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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29957709">Too Young To Know</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/2tiedships2/pseuds/2tiedships2'>2tiedships2</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One Direction (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alpha Harry, Alpha Liam, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Beta Niall, Cuddling, Exes to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misunderstandings, No Smut, Omega Louis, Scenting, Sharing a Bed, Touch Deprivation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 01:34:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>35,412</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29957709</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/2tiedships2/pseuds/2tiedships2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis blinked awake and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. This was the second morning in a row he had woken up after dreaming about Harry.</p><p>“Babe, what’s wrong?” Eric asked as he held Louis tighter in his arms. Louis liked being the little spoon, except for when he’d rather be holding someone else. Which were the past two days.</p><p>Or the one where Harry doesn’t present as an alpha… until he does.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Louis Tomlinson/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>598</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Too Young To Know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>My undying love remains with Lynda for everything she does in my writing process. And so much more!</p><p>Also, thank you to <a href="https://destieliscanonnow.tumblr.com">Büşra</a> and <a href="https://musketrois.tumblr.com/">Kate Lynn</a> for your help and support!</p><p>Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. I have no association with the band One Direction and those surrounding them, please don't share this work with anyone in the band.</p><p>Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Louis blinked awake and quickly wiped the tears from his eyes. This was the second morning in a row he had woken up after dreaming about Harry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Babe, what’s wrong?” Eric asked as he held Louis tighter in his arms. Louis liked being the little spoon, except for when he’d rather be holding someone else. Which were the past two days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing,” Louis croaked. “Bad dream I guess. I don’t remember it, so no big deal.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis hated lying to Eric. Or more like keeping the truth from him. Which was sort of the same thing but the latter sounded better. But Eric was Louis’ alpha, after all. Well, they hadn’t mated or bonded or anything but he still considered Eric his alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was the third alpha Louis had been paired with through the university’s Omega Heat Service. Louis had been paired with two other alphas to share heats with before Eric but Louis worried they would be the kind of alphas that were just looking to bond, accidental or not. It happened often and Louis wondered why the university still had the program in place. Sure, it meant that omegas’ heats were shorter when they were paired, but still. And Louis had no desire to be accidentally bonded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After their first time together, Eric had given Louis a tender kiss and asked if he could take Louis on a date. Louis had graciously accepted and the more time they spent together, the more Louis could see them eventually mating. They had now been living together for six months and Louis could honestly say he was quite content. He had an alpha to take care of him and in the end that’s what really mattered, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Except for these fucking dreams that Louis had started to have over the past two months. He was a heavy sleeper and most of the time didn’t remember his dreams. But there were times when he had one of those waking dreams… and Harry was always there. You’d think Eric’s sandalwood scent would overtake them, but nothing helped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course Louis had told Eric about Harry. Ex-boyfriends were one of their first topics of discussion. Louis had glossed over details and focused more on the fact that Harry was a beta and they had decided it would be beneficial for both parties to part ways. Which wasn’t exactly true but Louis didn’t particularly want to go into details of how their mutual decision wasn’t at all mutual. At this point it didn’t matter so what was the point of going into details anyway?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll make us some breakfast,” Eric said, placing a kiss on Louis’ cheek before getting up to head to the kitchen. “I’ll call when it’s ready.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded and attempted a smile. As soon as Eric was gone Louis returned to his thoughts of Harry. Maybe his ex-boyfriend would disappear from his dreams if Louis fully gave into thinking about his past one more time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry’s family had moved into their neighborhood when Louis was seventeen and Harry was fifteen. Louis had been in charge of taking his mum’s freshly baked cookies to their new neighbors and Harry had been the one to answer the door. The boy’s curly hair and blushing cheeks were all it took to have Louis wanting to get to know him, despite their age difference and how they were obviously in different grades at school.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry’s mum was soon at the door behind Harry and promptly welcomed Louis into their home. Boxes were still strewn around the house but Louis could already feel it would soon be a cozy home for the new tenants.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis had used his impeccable skills of being nosy, without seeming to be, and found that Harry hadn’t presented in a secondary gender yet. Louis had only presented two months before Harry moved into the neighborhood and was not at all surprised that he presented as an omega.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He couldn’t be sure about Harry though, to be honest. He probably wouldn’t present for another year and since Harry was the same height as Louis, and still held some cute baby fat in his face, Louis couldn’t help but think that Harry would be beta. Of course, that didn't stop Louis from secretly holding out hope that Harry would end up presenting as alpha.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry and Louis had gotten a few eyebrow raises when they officially started dating at 16 and 18. Especially considering Louis would be off to college the following year, leaving Harry behind to finish school at home. It didn’t matter to them though. It would work out. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The moment Harry turned sixteen he had declared to Louis that he knew he would present as alpha and had practically begged Louis to help him in his next heat. Louis had previously declined when they had not yet been an official couple. But considering Harry tended to be the mature one in their relationship, their age gap made no difference. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>However, Louis knew he should keep in mind that Harry was only sixteen. He had spoken with his mum about the situation, and Louis had a suspicion his mum had talked to Anne. In Louis’ unprofessional opinion, he considered their parents to be far too nosy about their children’s relationship. But in the end, all parties seemed to agree it would be fine that his boyfriend helped  with Louis' heat.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis had always thought his first time sharing a heat would be with an alpha but he didn’t care. This was Harry and it’s not like Louis had a proper knot when he spent his heat alone. Anything was better than nothing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry helped with all of Louis’ heats from that point on. And every time he had come out of heat, Harry immediately started apologizing that he wasn't an alpha. Even so, Harry held firm to his belief that he would present as an alpha some day. Harry had even gone so far as to tell Louis that he would be his alpha. It seemed a little premature for how young they were but, then again, Louis felt the same way. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When Louis went to college, he chose the closest location to home. He wasn’t letting Harry go. He couldn’t. They were self declared soulmates and who the fuck cared that Harry wasn't an alpha. So Louis either made the trip home, or Harry would join him at school as much as possible, always making sure Harry would be available to help with Louis' heats. It worked for them. Or at least Louis thought it did.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When Harry had his sudden growth spurt they both figured Harry was just presenting as an alpha later than normal. But by the time Louis was moving from college to university, there had been no change. Louis knew that beta and omega relationships were normal. And he was pretty sure Harry knew that as well. Which is why Louis still couldn't figure out what the fuck happened to cause Harry to suggest taking a break to allow Louis the opportunity to be with an alpha. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It had happened over Christmas break when their families were having a joint celebration. Louis still remembered how Harry had withdrawn from the group after Louis' mum had recounted her day of helping a male omega through a delivery while his alpha stood by holding their adopted child. Apparently the couple had thought they couldn't have pups of their own and had even started to go through the adoption process for a second child just as the omega found out he was pregnant. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis had eventually found Harry bundled up and sitting on the porch as snow fell around him, looking deep in thought. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"You deserve someone who can give you proper pups, Lou," Harry said as Louis took a seat next to him on the cold porch. "I can't give you what an alpha can. My pheromones aren't strong enough to comfort you. I don't have a knot to satisfy you during heat. Or when you're not in heat for that matter. You deserve everything an alpha has to offer, and I'm obviously not it."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis had been speechless. Literally. He couldn't recall a single time when Harry seemed to doubt their relationship as an omega and beta couple. Sure, there were the whispers from friends and family about how Louis should be finding an alpha instead of staying with his childhood crush. But they had been together for four years so it was obviously more than a crush at this point for fuck's sake. How did people not get that? And why the fuck did any of it matter? Harry and Louis were in love and no amount of pheromones or pups was going to change that. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I think we should take a break," Harry had continued in Louis' silence. "There's that Omega Heat Service at your school that you could sign up for or something. You should know what it's like to be with an alpha before we go any farther."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"I... what the fuck Harry?" Louis had burst out. "What the actual fuck? We're soulmates, H. You just want to throw that away because you think I need a knot for my heat or whatever?"</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry had merely shrugged. "I truly thought I would present as alpha, Lou. At which point I would be able to take care of you like you deserve. Obviously that’s not happening and I'm not going to hold you back any longer. Don't you remember how we would talk about spending hours scenting one another? And I certainly can't forget the times you've asked for my knot during your heat. A knot I don't have. I'm sorry, Louis. But I have to let you go. The future that we imagined will never be a reality."</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And that was that. The revelation had been so sudden Louis didn't have time to come up with an argument that he knew would change Harry's mind. He knew Harry was thinking he was doing what was right and that it was in Louis’ best interest. (Which it totally wasn't.) And, despite them both being stubborn as fuck, Louis knew he was going to lose any fight he put up. There was no way Harry would have made such a drastic decision after a single story about an omega pregnancy. So it was obvious Louis' boyfriend had been thinking about it for some time. Or ex-boyfriend. Or whatever they were as Harry gave him a final kiss goodbye before Louis climbed in his mum's car for the drive back to school. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis had been happily tethered to Harry's side for almost the entire time since presenting as omega. And now what? Was Louis returning to school a single omega? They hadn't even discussed how long their break would be. And it wasn’t like Louis had any intention of replacing Harry with an alpha any time soon. Or at all, for that matter.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>To make things even worse, Harry seemed to have decided for the both of them that it would be a fairly clean break. They texted back and forth for a few weeks but Harry's responses became shorter and less frequent. Even as Louis’ heat grew near, phone calls and text messages started to go unanswered. With a hole in his heart Louis joined the school's program to be paired with an unknown alpha for his heat. Louis had never gone through a heat alone since Harry had turned sixteen which meant Louis had no idea how long it would last if he didn’t have help. With Harry it lasted three days and Louis couldn't afford to be in heat any longer than that. He was already behind in schoolwork and was having to take twice the amount of stimms than usual to ward off touch deprivation. Which was something Louis found to be one of the worst parts of being on his own.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Having touch deprivation was foreign to Louis and his doctor seemed to be just as confused as Louis when confronted with the question of why the dosage of stimms needed to be changed. Even though Harry wasn’t with him constantly while at school, Louis had never encountered having touch deprivation to such an extent and it didn’t make sense. Technically losing his significant other shouldn't have made a difference since Harry was beta, right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Things got better after meeting Eric before Louis' third heat though. His sandalwood scent was comforting and Louis felt like he could properly breath for the first time in months. Louis had given up on reaching out to Harry after his second heat. They had shared enough heats that Harry was sure to know his schedule. And if the beta didn't care that Louis was being knotted by alphas then Louis could only assume Harry didn't care at all. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Thankfully Eric was patient because it had been a year of being exclusive and Louis was one-hundred percent sure the alpha was ready to mate. Oddly, Eric seemed to be waiting for Louis to bring up the topic of mating. Louis had never known an alpha to allow the omega to be the one to initiate the conversation which was honestly a bit confusing, though refreshing. Louis sensed Eric wanted to mate, but, on the other hand, did he really? Since Eric never mentioned it, Louis sometimes had doubts. Either way, Louis had been on the verge of bringing up the topic several times at this point. But then the dreams started.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Why the fuck was Louis dreaming of Harry being his alpha instead of Eric? And Louis really needed to get over it before Eric pulled away thinking Louis didn't want to mate. He had an alpha who loved and took care of him and was always there for him. As such, Louis vowed last night’s dream would be the last time Harry would make an appearance.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Feeling better?” Eric asked as he set a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Louis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave Eric a smile and nod. “Much, yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They ate in silence for a few minutes before Louis noticed Eric was starting to get a bit restless. Louis knew him well enough that it would only be a few moments until Eric would let out what he was thinking so Louis remained silent to give Eric as much time as he needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lou.’</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hmm?” Louis responded, giving Eric his full attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lou, I have a question. And I don’t want you to answer right away. But I just really need to ask you, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis swallowed hard. He already knew Eric was going to ask about mating.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ve wanted to give you time,” Eric continued. “I just, I mean, usually it’s the alpha that takes the first step in the mating process. Or at least asking. And I have wanted to for </span>
  <em>
    <span>so long</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Louis. It’s just, I don’t know, I guess I didn’t think you were ready or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave Eric a soft smile. It was bound to come up so Louis certainly wasn’t surprised by Eric finally saying something. And two months ago Louis would have given an immediate yes to the question Eric hadn’t even asked yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>An image of nineteen year old Harry flashed through his mind and Louis promptly brushed it away. He quickly decided there was probably only one way to get Harry out of his thoughts for good so he might as well go for it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I want to mate,” Louis said with confidence. “Is that what you were going to ask?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric’s jaw dropped open but he quickly recovered, saying, “So much, Lou.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My next heat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure you don’t want to give it some thought?” Eric asked. “You can take your time, I promise.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis waggled his eyebrows. “I asked you first. I suppose that means I’m sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric’s eyes twinkled in enthusiasm. “So next month? Your next heat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded. “Three weeks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric got up and rounded the table, leaving a piece of bacon behind that Louis would definitely claim later, and pulled Louis into a hug as he planted small kisses all over his face before planting his lips on Louis’. It was a lot more tender than Louis was expecting and it was perfect.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I love you, Louis,” Eric whispered against Louis’ lips. Louis kissed him back, hopefully relaying the same message.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once the pair let go, Eric sat back down and gave an exaggerated huff as Louis stole the bacon from Eric’s plate. As if the alpha should have expected any different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So what are we doing today?” Louis asked as he bit into the bacon. It was slightly cold but still delicious.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was thinking we could go to the park? Maybe come up with something from there?” Eric suggested. “It’s actually sunny on a Saturday afternoon so we should probably make the most of it to celebrate our decision.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded in agreement. “Sounds good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric flashed one of his brilliant smiles as he got up to put their dirty plates in the sink. Louis loved when Eric washed up after their meals. Since Louis still hadn’t perfected his cooking for the alpha, Louis was always the one that did the washing up. Louis fucking hated doing the dishes so he always breathed a sigh of relief when Eric took the initiative. They really needed a flat with a dishwasher. Not that he would ever complain. Louis was the omega in the relationship after all, it was kind of his role to help in the kitchen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis slipped on a pair of old Vans, somehow having finished getting ready sooner than Eric had, which was a nice change.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Be right out, babe!” Eric yelled from the vicinity of the bedroom. “Head on down, I’ll meet you outside.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave a single shrug to himself and slipped outside of the flat. He needed to soak up as much of the bright sunlight as possible since it seemed to rarely show itself on weekends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once Louis’ eyes adjusted to the blinding sun he noticed someone sitting on the bottom step of the flat’s complex looking out onto the street before them. The person seemed deep in thought and didn’t move or look up to see who was exiting the building.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was used to people sitting on steps outside of their complex so didn’t pay much attention as he moved to lean against the railing to wait for his soon to be mate. Louis smiled at the prospect and was glad to finally have made the decision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi, Louis,” the figure on the steps said, not even looking up to face him. The voice sounded far too familiar and definitely was not one of his neighbors.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis looked down as the man turned to look back at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry…” Louis whispered on a gasp.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What was he doing here? How had he found where Louis lived?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry stood up from the bottom stair and turned to face Louis. The man before him had grown up in Louis’ absence. Which, of course he had. But Louis wasn’t sure he’d ever be prepared for the man standing before him. It was obvious that he was growing his hair out, which was something Louis had suggested when they were still together. Just as Louis suspected, the curls that were growing out were thick and luscious and Louis wanted to run his fingers through them immediately. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and skinny jeans, showing off his long and lean build.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you doing here?” Louis finally asked. “How did you…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry ascended the few small stairs and stood one stair below Louis. Had he grown even taller? They were nearly the same height with Harry standing down one step.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then he smelled it. Pumpkin Spice. Louis had sometimes wondered if he was making up the distinctive smell when he was younger. The scent had always been faint and he never attributed it to Harry because his boyfriend was beta. At least, he never considered it to be anything other than Harry’s natural smell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis took a small step backward and stared at Harry with wide eyes. He was an alpha. Harry had been right all along. When the fuck had he presented? Right after Louis had left? A year later? Louis had never heard of an alpha to present later than the age of eighteen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry…” Louis said again. The pumpkin spice scent was becoming stronger and Louis had never smelled anything more enticing. Eric’s sandalwood scent was bland and boring compared to Harry’s.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You ready babe?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis whipped his head to where Eric was exiting the building and quickly turned back to Harry, watching as Harry’s entire face drained of color.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I…” Louis was speechless. He looked back to Eric who frowned slightly before his eyes landed on Harry. Eric’s frown deepened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi,” Eric said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. He reached out his hand in greeting and Harry stepped up onto the landing where his height overtook Eric’s by a couple inches. Eric looked slightly startled but continued, “I’m Eric, Louis’ boyfriend. Do you know each other?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry’s face went from colorless to crimson in a matter of seconds. The smell of pumpkin spice had diminished and Louis knew that Harry had strongly broadcasted the scent upon first meeting so Louis would know that he was now an alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry,” Harry said smoothly. Too smoothly. “Me and Louis are old friends.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck?” Louis said. Apparently out loud because he watched as both Eric and Harry looked over to him. Eric had an eyebrow raised and Harry had his brows furrowed in confusion. But honestly. Old friends? Harry had just said they were old friends. They had been together for years. They had shared more heats together than Louis and Eric even had yet. They were self proclaimed soulmates for fuck’s sake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry,” Louis said pathetically. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis couldn't even remember the last time he had mentioned Harry to Eric. Louis tended to keep any conversations about Harry between him and Niall. Eric wasn’t the jealous type, but still. Who knew when it could get awkward. Like now, for example.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis continued to look between Eric and Harry. He had no idea what the fuck to do. Harry had a soft smile on his face while Eric’s brows were now furrowed. For some reason it felt like the facial expressions should be swapped. And what did Harry and Eric see on Louis’ face?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis’ thoughts finally cleared enough to talk properly. Kind of. More robotic like. But that was good enough for now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eric, this is Harry,” Louis began. His voice was a bit squeaky. “My ex I told you about a while ago.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! The beta!” Eric burst out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis furrowed his own brows. Did he not notice that Harry both looked </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> smelled like an alpha? Or was Eric just ignoring it? Or playing stupid? Or all three? Although, to be fair, Louis would probably choose all three if he were in Eric’s position.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Harry said. Louis could tell he wanted to roll his eyes. Harry wasn’t an idiot and was probably wondering the exact thing Louis was in regards to Eric’s response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, it’s nice to finally meet you mate,” Eric said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric lied sometimes too. For Harry’s sake, who continued to glance over to him, Louis shook his head slightly in disagreement.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, we were about to head out,” Eric continued. He looked over to Louis as he said, “I was hoping me and Louis could celebrate the fact that we’ve decided to mate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis wanted to die. Why the fuck would Eric announce that? Harry’s face was back to being colorless and Louis wanted to kick Eric. Hard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we could have dinner, Harry?” Louis asked, hopefully before anything else could be said. They needed to talk. And it had to be today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry looked hesitant. And sad. And disappointed. And like he wanted to argue. And a bunch of other emotions that would take far too long for Louis to work out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Harry finally responded. “That’d be nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you in the city for long?” Eric asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It dawned on Louis that he still didn’t know how Harry had found him. And why he just showed up like this. Had Harry moved to Manchester? Was he here for good? Was he going to be a constant reminder of their past? After years of silence did Harry decide their 'break' was over?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not sure how long yet,” Harry said. This was getting more and more awkward the longer they were on the doorstep.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe tonight then?” Louis asked. Maybe Louis would regret the inquiry, and Eric certainly wouldn’t be keen on having his soon to be mate going out to dinner with his ex-boyfriend, who was now very much an alpha. But Louis had made worse decisions in his lifetime so why not add another to the list?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’d be nice,” Harry said. He bit his bottom lip and Louis knew he didn’t know what to ask. Harry certainly wouldn’t want to step on the toes of Louis’ apparent alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis glanced over to Eric in question. He didn’t want to step on the toes of the alpha either.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric shrugged. He wasn’t happy and his pheromones showed it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is, um…” Louis started. He didn’t really want to ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My number is still the same,” Harry said. Finishing Louis’ question for him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis had almost deleted the number several times but he couldn’t bring himself to. Thank God.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded and couldn’t contain the small smile that escaped him at the fact that Harry could still finish his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll text you,” Louis said as Eric took his hand in preparation to leave Harry behind. Louis watched as Harry’s eyes zoomed in on their intertwined fingers. Louis had to remember that he and Harry weren’t a thing anymore. They hadn’t been for ages. Harry was merely curious, maybe a little caught off guard. But that should have been expected, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis watched Harry wordlessly nod before Louis had to turn in the direction of where Eric was leading him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis wasn’t even sure there was any point of him and Eric spending the day “celebrating” after running into Harry like that. Their time together would be cut short due to Louis making an unexpected plan to have dinner with Harry. And Louis had a feeling meeting Harry was going to provoke Eric into talking more about their plan to mate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Why hadn’t Louis waited for Eric to say something instead of being impulsive and asking first? Making the plan to mate obviously backfired in the biggest way possible. Louis couldn’t put Harry behind him so easily if he had just shown up on his front porch for fuck’s sake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“All good?” Eric asked as they headed toward the park.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Louis stated. “That was just incredibly unexpected.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll say.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry for making dinner plans like that,” Louis said. “I guess I figured the sooner I hear whatever he has to say the sooner we can move on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric squeezed Louis’ hand. “That makes sense, babe. It’s fine. We have plenty of time to celebrate.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis needed to start the day over again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After scrolling all the way to the bottom of his contacts to click on the simple ‘X’ signifying his ex-boyfriend's number, Louis sent a single text to Harry asking if the pizza place a few blocks away from his flat was an okay place to meet at eight o’clock. Harry sent a single response agreeing with Louis’ idea and that he’d see him there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The day spent with Eric turned out to be a lot less awkward than Louis had anticipated. Eric hadn’t mentioned their previous discussion about mating. Louis was thankful for that, but honestly a bit surprised since they were supposed to be celebrating. Or something. Not talking about it was fine by him though. He needed time to think. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soon enough Louis was standing in front of the mirror trying to figure out what to wear to meet his former love of his life who basically dumped him out of nowhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wear the blue polo,” Eric suggested as he pulled Louis into his arms from the back. “You look nice in it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric couldn’t see the look of confusion on Louis’ face, because what? It seemed odd that Eric would encourage Louis to look nice to meet his ex-boyfriend. Did he honestly not recognize that Harry’s secondary gender was alpha? Shouldn’t the current alpha in the room want to send Louis along in a simple outfit that wouldn’t entice someone else?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are you nervous?” Eric asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m not,” Louis lied . He totally was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“As much as you try, you can’t hide your pheromones babe.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis let out a sigh. “Okay, so I’m nervous. It’s not like this is a big deal or anything so I don’t know why.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric planted a lingering kiss on Louis’ pulse point before saying. “It kind of is a big deal, Lou. We both know you don’t talk to me about Harry very often, not directly at least. It seems the two of you never had much closure. And now he's just showed up at our door as an alpha.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not like that’s going to change anything,” Louis said softly. “Plus it’s just dinner. He’s probably only visiting the city for whatever reason. Maybe this is his plan to get the closure that we never had.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Eric said as he gave Louis a kiss on the cheek before pulling out the blue polo shirt that Eric always said Louis looked gorgeous in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric didn’t scent him before sending him out the door. Which was also confusing. He always liked to scent Louis if he knew he was going to be around other alphas. But Louis elected to not think about it. He’d give Harry his full attention and return to Eric in a few hours. It was fine.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was only a few blocks walk to the pizza shop but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Despite having been separated for years, the void in Louis’ heart was still there. It made sense, of course, since Harry had been a part of his life since he was seventeen. They had grown into adulthood together and knew everything about each other. And of course Louis still didn't know why it had been such a big deal to Harry that Louis got to experience being with an alpha. And then go a step farther and completely drop out of Louis' life. This meeting could hold the answer but Louis wasn't sure if he wanted to hear it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He spotted Harry standing outside the shop as he neared. Harry had changed his clothes as well, still in skinny jeans but he was now wearing a floral button down shirt. The closer Louis got, the more he could see that Harry had forgotten to button some of the buttons. There was nothing to stop Louis from seeing Harry’s muscular build. This was definitely a bad idea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Louis greeted when he was next to the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry had definitely grown. Or maybe it was the boots he was wearing? Either way. Louis had to look farther up than he remembered having to do in the past.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Louis,” Harry said with a smile. “You look nice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis ducked his head down to try to hide the blush that was creeping up his face. Not that it mattered. Like Eric said, pheromones don’t lie. Harry could probably sense the nerves that Louis was radiating. Did pheromones project the fact that butterflies had taken flight in his stomach as well? No, right?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave up on trying to hide his blush and looked back up to Harry with a shy smile. “You do too. Although you forgot to button a few of your buttons there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry chuckled and the butterflies fluttered faster at the joyous sound Louis had missed so much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was just lazy,” Harry explained. “Buttons are overrated anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis poked Harry on his bare chest. He hadn’t meant to, it just happened. Or something. But his finger remained on Harry’s chest when he noticed a couple of tattoos peeking out of Harry’s shirt. There was no way Louis would be able to sleep unless he knew what they were.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With his finger </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> on Harry’s chest he looked up to Harry with the unspoken question in his eyes. What were the tattoos?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry simply nodded and Louis knew it as being Harry’s approval for him to look. There was some sort of comfort in knowing that their silent communication they had learned through the years was still intact.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis kept eye contact with Harry as he spread the top of Harry’s shirt open, Louis’ palms flat on Harry’s chest as he did so. He felt Harry shiver at the contact but pretended not to notice. In the dim light of the pizza shop Louis could see the two large swallows tattooed on his chest. They seemed to be mirror images of each other upon first inspection but then he noticed they differed slightly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why are they different?” Louis whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry tentatively placed his hands on each side of Louis’ waist and said, “Maybe we could save that for another day.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded and began to close the buttons on Harry’s shirt, starting from top to bottom. Harry’s hold was still on his hips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry giggled. “Why are you buttoning my shirt, Lou? I like it unbuttoned.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yeah. So did Louis. A lot. But he also wasn’t going to be able to properly concentrate with Harry’s shirt open like that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Humor me, Haz,” Louis said. Accidentally releasing Harry’s nickname that Louis had assigned him years ago.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was not going well. Harry </span>
  <em>
    <span>still</span>
  </em>
  <span> had his hands on Louis waist and the scent of pumpkin spice was so fucking addictive Louis wanted to bury his face into Harry’s neck. Fuck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We should eat,” Louis stated as the pair simultaneously took their hands off of each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry nodded and moved to open the door for Louis. Always the gentleman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After placing their orders, Harry led them to a small table tucked away in the corner.They were silent for a few minutes as they started in on their pizza. It was a comfortable silence, just as it always was with the two of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry was the first to speak as he set down his slice of pizza.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how are you doing, Lou? You seem happy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis took his time swallowing and simply nodded. He had certainly been happy this morning. Now he had no idea what the fuck he was. If only he hadn’t been having those damn dreams this would probably just be a nice meeting between the two of them. Louis just had to focus on playing it cool.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am,” Louis finally said. “I’ve gotten a job at a city school teaching drama. I also maintain the school’s website, so there’s that too.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave a lopsided smile and his beautiful dimple popped. It was bigger than it had been years ago. It was perfect. Dammit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just like you were hoping,” Harry said. “I knew you would reach your dream quickly.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For some reason Louis blushed. Harry made it sound like a compliment when, in fact, getting a low paying job as a drama teacher didn’t seem to be worthy of any kind of compliment.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Louis acknowledged. Quickly moving on he inquired, “What about you? What brings you to Manchester?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“University,” Harry stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis blinked in surprise. They had always talked about going to the same university, but Louis didn’t really think it would happen after they broke up. Or maybe he hoped it wouldn't. This also meant that Harry was going to be sticking around and living not that far from Louis’ current flat. This was getting worse and worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Louis was playing it cool. He had this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s amazing, H. Are you studying psychology then?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Another bright smile took over Harry’s face as he stated, “You remembered.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course Louis had remembered. As much as he may try, Louis could never forget the things that were important to Harry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Louis said as he took another bite of his pizza.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence fell over the table again as Louis built up the nerve to ask Harry about presenting as alpha.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You found a mate then?” Harry asked just as Louis was opening his mouth to speak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This was a dreadful conversation. Comfortable silence was much more preferred.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We had just decided on it this morning.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry froze, his tongue poking out as he prepared to take a bite of his food. After a few seconds he set it back down on his plate and dropped his eyes to the table. Louis watched him, wondering what exactly Harry was thinking.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry began to pick at the slice of pizza and Louis assumed whatever he had said caused Harry to lose his appetite.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess I should have rang the doorbell last night,” Harry whispered. It sounded like he was talking to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even so.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you stop by?” Louis inquired. It seemed an unnecessary question but of course he had to ask it. “Why didn’t you ring?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shrugged as he poked at his pizza. It seemed apparent that Harry hadn’t meant to say anything out loud so Louis moved on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When did you present, Haz?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry pulled his eyes up to meet Louis’ once more. “A few months after you left.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis' mind went blank. Why the fuck hadn’t Harry gotten in contact with him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if reading Louis’ thoughts, Harry continued. “I knew your schedule, Lou. You were nearing your heat when I started my rut. It's not like I could just call you or hop on the next train or whatever. Plus you would have had an alpha lined up to help with your heat and I didn't want to disturb you afterwards. I emailed so you would at least know. Although from your reaction you never got it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry emailed? He fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>emailed</span>
  </em>
  <span>? Louis had about ten thousand unread messages in his in box. When he hit about fifteen thousand he’d just commit email bankruptcy and delete everything at once. It was a process that Harry </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> Louis had. He only checked his email if he was expecting to receive something.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why the fuck would you email?” Louis burst out. Harry immediately cringed and looked around the restaurant. Louis could care less what the few other occupants in the restaurant might think.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I'm sorry, Lou. But it doesn’t really matter now, does it?” Harry asked. His voice was low, probably in an attempt to keep the conversation to themselves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis didn’t know what to say. He loved Eric. He did. They were going to mate on Louis’ next heat. But on the other hand Eric had never been able to fill the void in Louis’ heart. There was a good compensation in the forms of pheromones and love but fuck. How the fuck would Harry think that it wouldn't matter?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why don’t we go?” Harry suggested. “I could walk you home, if you want.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis had lost his appetite too so they might as well leave. He nodded in silent agreement and Harry collected both of their trays of food, leaving Louis to merely follow. Harry had always liked being the domestic one, somehow finding enjoyment in cleaning the dishes after a meal. Louis definitely missed that part of their relationship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They exited the shop and headed in the direction of Louis’ flat. This was definitely the shortest date Louis had ever been on. Not that it was a date. At all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They had walked about a block when Harry reached down and took Louis' hand, halting their progress. Harry quickly released his hold but the feeling of Harry’s touch seemed to remain.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lou,” Harry began. “I’ve moved here for school. I need to know now if we could try to be friends or if you would prefer that I stay away. You have your alpha and you’re happy. I just had to see you this once.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry stopped talking and looked at Louis, his brows furrowed as he waited for Louis’ response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis had no fucking idea what to say. Was his dreaming of Harry some sort of premonition of him reappearing in his life? Was Louis' agreement to mate with Eric solely based on their love or was his current boyfriend merely a fix from Louis' broken heart after losing his soulmate? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite Louis' internal conflict at the situation the hole in his heart seemed to ease with Harry’s presence. But there was another ache. He couldn’t just leave the alpha back at Louis’ flat. They had been together for too long and Harry showing up like this was no reason for any plans to change. Although could Louis even be friends with Harry without his mind and heart always in turmoil? Or would Harry staying away going to make things worse?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t answer now,” Harry stated, perhaps sensing Louis’ mental confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry turned to continue walking the rest of the way to Louis’ flat, the air around them thick with unspoken words.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Neither had spoken as they arrived at Louis’ front doorsteps and Louis could only turn to look at Harry, not knowing how to say goodnight. He was pretty sure he was fishmouthing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry smiled softly as he brushed Louis’ fringe across his forehead. It was a familiar gesture and Louis both loved and hated it at the same time.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Text me okay?” Harry said. “Whatever you want is fine, Lou. I promise. Like I said, I just needed to see you at least once before I started school in the same city. It was probably a lot less awkward like this than accidentally running into each other on the street, you know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded his head in agreement. Harry was certainly right about that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry leaned down and gave a quick kiss to Louis’ cheek, the scent of pumpkin spice filling Louis’ senses. It both calmed him and made him want Harry even more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry brushed his hand down Louis’ arm and wordlessly turned to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry!” Louis called before Harry had gotten very far.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry halted and turned to acknowledge him, although he didn’t make any movement towards Louis.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We can be friends,” Louis stated. “Maybe we can do a bit more catching up at least. It’s been a long time and I’d like that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was too dark to see Harry’s full facial features, but Louis could make out the bright smile that overtook his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry nodded once before saying, “I’d like that, Louis. Text me, okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry paused for a few moments before giving a small wave. “I’ll see you later.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“See you,” Louis said weakly as he gave his own wave. This was a bad idea. An incredibly bad idea. He was also pretty certain that the scent of pumpkin spice was stuck on his shirt. Either that or permanently in his nose.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis turned to head into his flat, having no idea what to say to Eric. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re back early,” Eric said by way of greeting. He immediately pulled Louis into his arms and continued, “Not that I mind of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Eric pulled back he had a small frown on his face and Louis could only assume he could smell Harry on his clothes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll go shower,” Louis rushed before Eric could say anything else. Maybe Eric would scent him after and not think about it anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as Louis was in the bathroom he pulled out his phone to text Niall. He knew the details about Harry that no one else was fully aware of. Maybe Niall would have some sort of thought or opinion because Louis couldn’t figure this out on his own and the other alphas in his life probably weren’t the best ones to ask.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Niall! I need help. Please. Like serious help.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis waited for a few moments and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the bubbles indicating Niall was typing.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: You’ve needed help for years. You already know that.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: I’m ignoring that comment.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Harry showed up at my door today. As a pumpkin spice smelling alpha…</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Oh.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: That’s it??? That’s all you have as a response???</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Have you told Eric?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: He was kind of there with me when I found H at the door.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Oh.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: For fuck’s sake.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Where are you?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: The bathroom.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: [rolling eyes emoji] Bring me food tomorrow and I'll offer my advice.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: You can’t just tell me?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Not on an empty stomach.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Fine. Around noon.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Later.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis tossed his phone on the counter and stripped down for a shower. Louis had already planned on meeting up with his best friend in the morning, knowing Eric was going to be putting in some extra hours at work so the timing was perfect. Louis couldn’t decide if he was glad to be able to spend the time with Niall at this point though. Niall was mostly shit at giving advice, but he had his moments. Louis would bring Niall’s favorite food in the hope it would be a good day of advice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how’s Eric doing?” Niall asked as they settled at the kitchen table, boxes of chinese spread in front of them. Hopefully the food would get Niall thinking and not put them into a food coma.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged before saying, “I mean, okay I guess? He didn’t, like, change his mind about mating or anything so I guess he’s not worried about Harry getting in the way or anything. He was actually supportive of me meeting up with Harry for dinner last night.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall spit out the eggroll he had just shoved in his mouth and looked at Louis with wide eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When the fuck did you decide to mate?” Niall finally asked. “And why the fuck were you meeting up with Harry. Also how did </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> go?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis blinked in surprise at the onslaught of questions Niall had just thrown at him. Because, honestly, where did Louis even begin?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis let out a sigh before answering. “We decided to mate yesterday morning. A few hours before I found Harry sitting on the front steps waiting for me. I thought maybe mating with Eric would get rid of those dreams I was telling you about. I mean, I love Eric, of course, but you know what I mean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall snorted. Louis ignored him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway,” Louis continued. “So Harry showed up as an alpha, I introduced them to each other. Me and Eric spent the day together and I met up with Harry for dinner. Although it didn’t really last long. He asked if we could be friends after he had walked me home. Then me and Eric spent the night cuddled on the couch watching TV after I had showered off the scent of pumpkin spice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall chuckled before asking, “Did he spend the entire movie scenting you to get the ex-boyfriend’s smell off?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis scrunched his brows together. Usually Eric spent at least some portion of a movie scenting him. Had Eric scented him as they were cuddling? Louis couldn’t even remember.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not the entire movie,” Louis responded. That was true at least.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did he bring up mating again?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shook his head as he poked at his rice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry smells like pumpkin spice,” Louis mused. “It’s weird because when we were together I swore I smelled that sometimes. And here he is an alpha. Just like he always said. Well, until he changed his mind and broke up with me. At which point he never said anything again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were both hurt Lou,” Niall said softly. “I don't know Harry personally, but I have no doubt that it hurt him just as much. And I don’t think mating with Eric is going to fix things from the past.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you saying, Niall? That me and Eric shouldn’t mate? I don’t think you get a say in that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall rolled his eyes. “I’m not saying you shouldn’t. I’m just saying maybe you should wait a little bit while you both get settled with the idea that Harry is going to be around. I assume you plan on being friends with him? Is he staying around for friendship? Or more than friendship?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s here for school. And I said we could be friends,” Louis said. “He already knows I plan on mating with Eric, so there won’t be anything besides friendship.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall nodded in understanding. Or hopefully he understood.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall’s eyes brightened and he sat up straighter before instructing, “Invite him over. I want to meet him. Like, now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes,” Niall insisted. “Please? I already feel like I know him. I want to meet the man of your dreams.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis rolled his eyes. “He’s not the man of my dreams. And he’s probably busy anyway.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s literally in your dreams,” Niall deadpanned. “But at least see if he’s free. Tell him I want to meet him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis bit his lip. This would be as good a time as any to spend a little more time with Harry. Maybe. Probably not. At least with Niall here there would be a buffer between the two of them. Eric would certainly appreciate that. Although, was it too soon after seeing each other the previous night? Would it seem like Louis was desperate to see the man again? Whatever. If Harry thought it was too soon he could say no.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine,” Louis huffed as he pulled out his phone. He ignored the smirk Niall gave him.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Are you busy with school stuff? My friend Niall would like to meet you if you’re free.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>The bubbles indicating Harry was typing popped up. Then stopped. Then started again, the icon remaining on the screen longer this time. Then they stopped. Louis frowned and set his phone down and went back to picking at his food.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis and Niall were cleaning up when Louis’ phone pinged with a text. Louis rushed to pick it up, immediately regretting the urgency which he had displayed, knowing Niall was there to witness it.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry: Sure. Xx.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s it?” Louis asked out loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’s it?” Niall inquired as he snatched Louis’ phone out of his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing,” Louis stated. It seemed like Harry had been typing a novel from all of the bubbles appearing in his message app. And he got a one word response? Could Louis uninvite him?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis watched on as Niall typed something out on his phone. He didn’t even care at this point. Feelings were overrated and he wasn’t going to overthink anything. Or maybe he should just not think at all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall handed his phone back and advised, “I gave him my address. He should be here in, like a half hour.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A half hour?” Louis asked. That was too soon. Way too soon. And he was wearing a ratty pair of joggers and an old t-shirt. He should have thought this through. All of Louis’ life decisions were coming back to haunt him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Get out of your head,” Niall said as he flicked Louis in the forehead. Bastard. “It’ll be fine. It’s just going to be me and Harry talking anyway. You can sit back and admire my beauty.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up,” Louis huffed as he headed to the living room. “What are we going to do in the meantime? As well as when Harry’s here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mario Kart?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Louis agreed before a snippet of a conversation he had with Harry flickered through his mind. “Wait. No. No Mario Kart while Harry is here.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall looked over with a raised eyebrow. “May I ask why we can’t play while Harry is here?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He likes FiFa better?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You totally have me convinced,” Niall said blandly. “Or you definitely don’t. Is there something you’d like to share?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my God,” Niall mumbled as he pulled up Mario Kart and tossed a controller at Louis. Thankfully he didn’t make any further inquiry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no way Louis was going to tell him about the sexual innuendo he and Harry had once attributed to the game. Hopefully Harry had forgotten about the comment if Niall was in fact planning to keep the game going when his ex-boyfriend got here.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis didn’t even realize how much time had passed until the flat’s buzzer went off. Had it already been a half hour?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Looks like he’s excited about the prospect of meeting me,” Niall said as he paused the game. “He’s here early and you should answer the door so I don’t have to get up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re impossible,” Louis said as he heaved himself up, smacking the back of Niall’s head on the way to let Harry in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis picked at his cuticles as he waited for Harry to climb the three flights to Niall’s flat. Why was Louis the one answering the door again? This wasn’t his flat. Niall should be answering the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis jumped when the knock sounded from the other side of the door. He couldn’t do this. Why did he agree to Niall’s horrible ideas?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you answering or not?” Niall called from the other room as Harry’s knock sounded again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Right. Louis had this. It was only Harry. Who was now an alpha who smelled like Louis’ new favorite scent of pumpkin spice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis opened the door to reveal a beaming alpha. Harry’s smile quickly dropped as his eyes slid down and focused on Louis’ t-shirt. Louis looked down as if he hadn’t known what he had put on earlier. Which… maybe he hadn’t known? Because fuck. He was wearing a Rolling Stones t-shirt that had once belonged to Harry. He had given it to Louis after Harry outgrew it and the logo was fading off of the shirt from the amount of times Louis had washed it through the years.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry’s eyes came back to meet Louis’ again but this time he looked sad. Or hurt? Maybe confused. Pheromones radiated confusion so Louis chose that option. Either way his heart ached at the sight before him and he wanted to pull Harry into a hug immediately. But he couldn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re such a gracious host, Louis,” Niall said as he came up from behind. “Or not. Are you going to invite him in? Or is Harry a vampire who needs to be invited in by the owner of the flat?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That immediately broke the tension as Harry laughed, Louis quickly following.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come in, Haz,” Louis said, cursing himself for using Harry’s nickname again. He quickly continued with short introductions as Harry stepped over the threshold.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nice to meet you, mate,” Niall said. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Good to put a name to the face. Or is it face to the name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis internally groaned as Niall led the way to the living room. This was such a bad idea. That sentiment seemed to be turning into a chant at this point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How are you at Mario Kart?” Niall asked as he directed Harry to sit. “Louis was saying how much you liked to play.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was….  wait, what?” Louis asked in horror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis sat down on the couch, knowing his face was turning pink. Harry followed Louis’ lead and took a seat next to him. Harry’s eyes held a look of mischief when he asked, “Who’s in front and who’s behind?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis leaned over and face planted onto the empty couch cushion. From the smell of the fabric it seemed Niall had recently sprayed air freshener.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry…” Louis mumbled into the flowery scented cushion. He tried concentrating on thinking of flowers and not of Harry’s unbuttoned white shirt.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know about you,” Niall stated. “But I’m always in front.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis flew up in a sitting position but immediately folded over in laughter, Harry joining in with ease.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What just happened?” Niall asked in confusion as the laughter subsided.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry looked over to Louis. “Is he…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He’s very straight,” Louis said, answering Harry’s unasked question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Am I what?” Niall huffed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gay,” Louis stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why would you think I’m gay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No reason,” Harry said innocently. “Are we going to play or not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall tossed the remote to Harry, keeping the other to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Show him how it’s done, H,” Louis said, waggling his eyebrows when Harry glanced over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry let out a soft giggle as he turned his attention to the game Niall had started with no warning.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The group played a couple of rounds in heavy competition but soon found they were all on equal footing when it came to racing. Instead it turned into a fun background activity while Niall grilled Harry in his way of questioning without seeming to be interrogating. Louis knew better though and merely sat watching Harry when Louis didn’t have a controller. He didn’t mean to put so much focus on Harry but he was so fucking beautiful and Louis couldn’t take his eyes off of him. The sparrows on Harry’s chest were poking out from his unbuttoned shirt and Louis had to cross his arms over his own chest to prevent himself from touching Harry’s curly locks. The beta he had left back home had grown so much over the past couple of years and Louis’ mind was a jumbled mess.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Beer anyone?” Louis asked as he got up to head to the kitchen. He didn’t even wait for their response. He just needed a moment away from Harry’s delicious scent. He briefly considered going home and cooking one of the few meals Louis tended not to ruin for when Eric got back. But Louis also knew he didn’t get off work for a few more hours. Unfortunately Niall knew that as well and Louis didn’t want to give an explanation for an early exit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis pulled out his phone as he sat down at the small table. He figured Eric wouldn’t see any messages until later but it gave Louis something to do.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Hope your day is going well. I love you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eric: I love you too, babe. What are you up to?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis couldn’t help his surprise when he received Eric’s response so quickly. Maybe he was on lunch break so he had his phone out? Louis sighed. Eric knew he was at Niall’s flat but…</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: I’m still at Niall’s. He invited Harry over so he’s here too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: You know how Niall is. If there’s a new person for him to meet he’ll find a way to get them over. Like stealing my phone in this case. Literally.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis smiled at himself knowing that he was able to tell the truth without seeming like he had been secretly desperate to see Harry again.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eric: You’ll be home for dinner?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Of course! I was thinking of making something for you. :)</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Eric: Sounds good. Gotta get back to work. Love you.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: You, too.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Instead of heading back into the living room Lous pulled up twitter and blindly scrolled through his feed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was caught off guard when Harry poked his head into the kitchen and said, “I’m going to head out, Louis. I have some things to do but Niall’s already invited me to come over whenever I’m free. I hope that’s okay?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis stood up to properly face the man before him. “Of course it’s okay, H. Niall’s a great lad and one of the best friends anyone could ask for.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard that, Lou!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, you didn’t!” Louis shouted back in Niall’s direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry let out a soft laugh before saying, “I’ll see you later, Lou.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll walk you out,” Louis said in a rush. “Or at least to the door because Niall’s a horrible friend and will probably lock me out if I leave the flat completely.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I heard that, too!” Niall yelled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis merely smiled and left his phone behind to lead Harry to the front door. Or more like followed Harry, but whatever. The point was he could say a proper goodbye.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis decided to take a chance on Niall locking him out and exited the flat so he didn’t have to feel Niall’s eyes on him. Louis may, or may not, be slightly in want of a hug from his former soulmate. Or their own version of what they had considered soulmate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It seemed pretty obvious that Harry wasn’t in any hurry to leave once they were alone in the hallway. They stood facing each other, arms at their side, as they both looked at each other in silence.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry was the one to finally break it, saying something Louis would never expect, “You’ve always smelled good, Lou. But fuck. I can smell your scent so much clearer now.” Harry paused before continuing softer. “I shouldn’t have said that, sorry. Forget I did.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>What the fuck did that mean? Harry could smell him when he was a beta? Or before he presented? Why didn’t he say anything?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you mean, H?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry cocked his head and gave Louis a Look. “Betas still have a sense of smell, you know. It’s just faint and they really don’t notice it on an omega unless they want to.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay? So you just wanted to? What are you getting at?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shrugged. “I could always smell you. Chocolate and mint always surrounded me when we were together. We could be in a room with tons of people and I could always pick you out.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis blinked in surprise. Or some sort of emotion he didn’t know what to do with. Sure, betas had their sense of smell, but Harry could pick Louis out in a room full of other alphas and omegas? That would be nearly impossible wouldn’t it? Unless Harry had some hidden alpha instincts?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis squeezed his eyes shut, trying to avoid what he was not going to be able to stop himself from thinking about.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lou?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis hummed in acknowledgement, eyes still closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry if I upset you by admitting that. I really shouldn’t have said it. I’m sorry.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis opened his eyes, his line of sight being exactly where he was trying to not think of. Any of Harry’s hidden alpha would, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>did</span>
  </em>
  <span>, include his knot. Because it was surely there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis lifted his eyes as fast as possible, hoping that Harry hadn’t noticed where Louis had been looking. Harry’s nose flared and his cheeks began to blush. Either Harry knew what Louis had been thinking, or Louis pheromones were speaking for themselves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Anyway, I should get going,” Harry said, his cheeks becoming a shade darker. “It was good to see you again, Lou.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The scent of pumpkin spice was so strong. So delicious. And before Louis knew what he was doing he stood up on his tippy toes to pull Harry into a hug. Harry immediately made himself smaller and wrapped his own arms tentatively around Louis. Louis shivered when he sensed Harry turn his head into Louis' neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t last long and Harry swiftly pulled out of the hug leaving Louis confused as to what had just happened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, Louis. Um…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry ran his hand through his curls and continued, “Um, yeah, say hi to Eric for me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis didn’t have a chance to respond before Harry turned on his heel and practically ran down the stairs. As Louis stood alone in the hallway he had a dreadful feeling it would be awhile until he saw Harry again. Hopefully he was wrong. Although it would probably be best.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span> “Well, that was fun,” Niall announced cheerfully once Louis re-entered the flat, immediately collapsing on the floor in order to stare at the blank ceiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That was definitely </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> fun,” Louis stated. He briefly wondered if he could talk Niall into painting the ceiling. Maybe a lovely shade of green. Yeah. Green was good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe not for you,” Niall said. “But it was good to finally meet him. He’s a good lad. Although, I get the sense he might still be in love with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, don’t say that,” Louis whispered to the ceiling.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room dropped into silence, the only sound being that of Niall sipping on a beer. Neither of them were good at silence though and after a few moments Niall quietly broke the tension that had started to formulate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, Lou. I shouldn’t have invited him over like that. You haven’t even had enough time for the alpha revelation to sink in yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s okay,” Louis replied. Although now that Harry was no longer in the room, Louis was starting to wonder what the last few hours might have done to his heart. Harry’s pheromones must have had some sort of calming effect or something. A magical way to take Louis’ mind off of the realization that Harry was, in fact, in Manchester. And he was here to stay. All the while, Louis had an alpha waiting for him at home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was fucked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you going to do?” Niall asked, pulling Louis out of his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis sat up just enough to grab a throw pillow off of the couch, shoving it behind his head and laying back down on the hard floor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry dumped me so I could go and find an alpha,” Louis eventually declared to the ceiling. “I did as I was told and I’ll soon be mated to the alpha I found. It’s a little late to change that now. I was the first to say I wanted to mate and I’m not going to go back on my word.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Lou...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If Harry wanted a chance to be my alpha than he should have fucking contacted me when he presented years ago. He didn’t. So him being here changes nothing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you think you would want him as your alpha?” Niall asked hesitantly. “If you weren’t with Eric, would you give Harry a chance?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis let out a heavy sigh. “He smells like him, you know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry smells like Eric? Seriously?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis lifted his head enough to give Niall a Look. “Of course not.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why am I getting a Look? What else could you mean?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis laid back down. He really should move to the couch but he couldn’t remember which cushion Harry had been sitting on. Louis wasn’t sure he could handle laying in Harry’s scent right now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Harry smells like pumpkin spice,” Louis explained. “When we were younger I would sometimes smell it. It was faint and I think I only noticed when I was close to my heat. Maybe other times, but yeah, it was there. But Harry was beta so it made sense that it was just his usual smell mixed with body wash or something. But now it’s his alpha scent. And he smells fucking amazing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The fuck does that mean?” Louis asked, lifting his head again to see if Niall’s facial expression gave anything away as to what he could mean by his simple response. Louis found Niall with his brows furrowed and a small frown on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know,” Niall admitted. “I guess it just doesn’t make sense. Was he like an alpha... but not? Any other signals of, like, alpha characteristics?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave a half shrug. “He was pretty protective when we went out to clubs with our friends. But he was my boyfriend so of course he was protective. So I guess that doesn’t count.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe,” Niall said. After a few beats he continued. “What about university? After the two of you parted ways...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You mean him dumping me?” Louis interrupted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure, whatever you want to call it.” Niall said. Louis didn’t even have to see his friend to tell he was rolling his eyes. “The point is what happened afterwards. You said you had to start doubling your dose of stimms to help with touch deprivation?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah....” Louis said, having no idea where Niall could be going with this.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just out of curiosity, but how often did you see each other? Like... before. Did you visit each other besides just your heats?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Of course,” Louis quickly replied. “Harry made sure of it. Well, it was mutual, of course. But if I was too busy with school to go home for the weekend Harry always came to me. I know Harry’s job at the bakery was only part time but it’s still a bit surprising how he seemed to be able to get out of a day or two of work with barely any notice.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So like once a week, at least?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sure,” Louis stated, hoping Niall would be to the point sooner rather than later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's just..." Niall paused, sounding deep in thought. "You said that Harry was always saying he knew he would one day present as an alpha. But it's like he already was one. He just hadn't popped a knot to prove it. He obviously had some sort of alpha pheromone effect if his weekly visit kept you from needing a bunch of stimms. It doesn't make sense."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis remained silent. The more Niall talked about it the more Louis' stomach began to knot. Because his friend was right. Louis had never thought of all the factors like this and it truly didn't make sense. Did Harry realize it? In which case why did Harry suddenly become so set on the fact that he wasn't going to present? Why did he push Louis away? Did Harry succumb to the pressure of friends and family? Did he honestly think Louis deserved someone with a knot? Why did Harry insist on seeing Louis at least once a week, making sure to...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the fuck?" Louis burst out. Suddenly remembering another bit from his past</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" Niall croaked after recovering from choking on a sip of beer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He would ask for me to scent him. And he would pretend to scent me when we were cuddled up, or whatever. I figured he just wanted me to scent him so I could feel more like an omega. But what if he truly wanted it? Or needed it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis paused. His world was turning upside down with unanswered questions. He needed to stop thinking about it and avoid seeing Harry for a while. Louis and Eric were mating for fuck's sake. Harry was in the past. Eric was Louis' future. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis sat up and crawled off of the hard floor, announcing, "I have to go make dinner for Eric. I can't keep thinking about this. If Harry wanted to be with me then he shouldn't have given me that pathetic break up speech and proceed to ghost me after presenting. I'm sure there are plenty of omegas clamoring for his knot so he'll be fine."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't decide if you're trying to convince me or yourself," Niall commented with furrowed brows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It doesn't matter," Louis said as he looked around the room for his shoes. "It is what it is."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall's attempt at a smile looked more like a grimace but at least he didn't object to Louis' decision.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, Lou?" Niall tentatively asked, catching Louis' full attention. "I think Harry told you that I invited him over sometime. I don't want things to be awkward and am totally fine not seeing him again. I'm your friend first and foremost."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis paused. Technically he had already told Harry that they could be friends. But after this conversation with Niall, Louis wasn't so sure he could do that. On the other hand, Louis was fairly certain he wouldn't be able to avoid seeing his former best friend when he now lived in the same city. And, sure, Manchester was large enough that they wouldn't be tripping over each other, or anything. But still. He was here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," Louis finally said. "I think we should try being friends. All of us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"All of us?" Niall asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Are you including Eric in this?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged. "Of course. I'm sure they'll get on just fine if there's a group activity or something. Harry knows we're mating and he knows better than to get in the way of something like that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall nodded slowly. "Yeah, true. In which case we should make plans for this weekend. I think Liam said he was free and considering the situation, I think the more the merrier is definitely the best way to go."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis smiled. "Let's do it. I feel like I haven't seen Liam in ages. Zayn too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm on it," Niall stated as he stood up, following Louis' trek to the door. "It'll be fun. I promise."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis cocked an eyebrow. "I don't know if you should be so quick to promise. It could be a disaster."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall merely shrugged. “Maybe. I guess we’ll see won’t we.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I guess. Anyway, see ya, Nialler,” Louis said, opening the door to go back to the alpha that would be waiting for him. The alpha Louis was going to be mating with in three weeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can't believe Niall picked bowling as our group activity," Louis grumbled as he checked and rechecked the status of his hair in the bathroom mirror.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's wrong with bowling?" Eric asked as he appeared in the doorway with a small frown on his face. "It's a good atmosphere to get to know people and have a fun competition at the same time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I suppose," Louis said, if only to appease the alpha. The problem was that it was an activity that Louis and Harry did on a regular basis when they were younger. They were never in an official league or anything but they had spent hours learning the game and watching videos of professional bowlers. Harry had picked up the interest at first but naturally Louis was right there with him and quickly became just as competitive in the game. When they went out with friends, despite not being on a team, it was always Louis and Harry against the other players in the group. That's just how it was. They were the Dream Team of bowling. Among other things, of course. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis hadn't seen or heard from Harry since Sunday and Louis was pretty sure the five days of silence was a good thing. Mostly. He couldn't help himself from searching alpha and omega blogs and message boards for information about extremely late blooming alphas. Anything to explain why Harry seemed to have alpha characteristics when they were younger, despite not presenting as an alpha. Louis had found that Harry wasn't alone in being a late bloomer. But the more he searched the more Louis couldn't determine if Harry's actions were because of his hidden alpha or if he was just an attentive boyfriend to the omega he loved. Or Louis thought he loved.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I can tell you're nervous, babe," Eric said after a few moments of silence. "There's no need to be. Harry knows about us and I'm looking forward to meeting him for real. You know, besides our brief greeting on the porch last week."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If you say so," Louis said, highly doubting that Eric was looking forward to meeting Louis’ ex.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Louis' waist. The contact felt good, although Louis couldn't help but wish the alpha was a few inches taller. Louis almost rolled his eyes at the irony of the fact that Eric was built more like a beta, while Harry had sprung up looking like an alpha. Eric was only about an inch or two taller than Louis and if he hadn't shown up at Louis’ door as the person to help with his heat, Louis never would have guessed Eric was an alpha. Well, his sandalwood scent would give it away but that's pretty much it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His mind involuntarily flickered to a time when he could be completely engulfed by Harry's long arms and how secure and safe he had felt when being held like that. Louis stamped out the thought as quickly as possible. He could not let his mind wander to his past. Not now. Not ever.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric nuzzled into Louis' neck to scent him, giving a few kitten licks to make sure his scent remained strong to ensure other alphas in their group would know that Louis was taken. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks, love," Louis said with a sincere smile. "You ready?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric gave Louis a tight squeeze and kiss on the cheek before letting go. "Let's do this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe it was just Louis, but it felt weird to be meeting at the bowling alley. Usually a lad's night out meant meeting up at one of their flats so they could head to the destination as a group.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis had only been to one bowling alley in Manchester before and was pleasantly surprised to find the venue Niall picked was fairly small with no large crowds. It reminded Louis a bit of the bowling alley his friends frequented in Doncaster. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, I have to admit this is different than what I expected," Eric commented as he intertwined their fingers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How so?" Louis asked as he found Niall waving at them from the other side of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess I just thought a city location would have a lot more neon lights and groups of drunken friends. Especially on a Friday night. But I like this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis giggled. "Well, I'm sure Niall could help out in the drunken friends department."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric laughed and squeezed Louis' hand as they headed towards their friends who were grouped around the counter in socked feet, waiting for the fashionable, germ filled, bowling shoes to be distributed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Tommo! Eric!" Niall greeted jovially. "You're just in time. We've got a lane ready and teams picked out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Teams?" Louis and Eric asked at the same time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Bowling with six people isn't exactly a team sport is it?" Eric continued, sounding slightly confused. “Unless you’re in a league, of course.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure it is,"  Niall stated as if it were glaringly obvious. "The bad players get teamed up with a good player and then their points are combined at the end of the game."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>'Who are the six of us being paired up with then?" Louis asked, managing to contain his laughter. "We probably all suck."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Speak for yourself, Lou," Harry's deep voice sounded from the other end of the counter. Louis knew he was there but for some reason hearing Harry's voice again surprised him. He watched as the pumpkin spiced alpha grabbed his assigned pair of shoes and strolled over to where Louis and Eric were waiting for their turn in line.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nice to see you again, Eric," Harry greeted, his eyes glancing down to where Louis and Eric's fingers were still intertwined. "You too, Louis."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Likewise," Eric responded stiffly, his hold on Louis' hand tightening a bit. Louis glanced between Harry and Eric and watched on as the alphas seemed to be sizing each other up. Louis immediately knew that his and Niall's decision on having a lad's night out might have been an even worse idea than Louis initially thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So who are the teams then?" Louis asked, far too loudly for the small space they were currently occupying. It worked in interrupting whatever the fuck was going on between Harry and Eric though, so at least there was that.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis toed off his shoes as Niall started in on the rules. "Liam said he was good, so he's paired with Zayn. I obviously forgot to ask how Eric was at the sport but Harry said you were a good player, Lou, so hopefully Eric sucks to make it an even pairing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey now!" Eric objected, as he handed his and Louis' shoes over to the employee. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you good then?" Harry asked. "I mean, Niall said he was shit so I offered to team up with him. But should we rearrange teams to make things more even?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Excuse you," Niall interrupted. "I didn't say I was shit. I just said it's been awhile since I played so I'm out of practice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis laughed and turned to Harry to clarify. "You're right. He's shit. But so are you, Haz. You really think you can beat me and Eric?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes," Niall and Harry said in unison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis crossed his arms over his chest and leveled Harry with a look. "Bring it on."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"We're switching up teams for the next game," Niall grumbled as Harry rejoined their group after rolling his second gutter ball of the game. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm still warming up," Harry huffed after he returned to his seat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>NIall scoffed. "Right. Well, we're still switching teammates. I'll take Eric."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey," Louis protested. "You're the one that decided the teams, Nialler. You can't change things just because you're losing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis glanced over to Harry who was already looking at him with a smirk on his face. Louis knew exactly what that meant and he internally groaned. Harry may have just thrown a second gutter ball but Louis knew the smirk as a tell-tale sign that Harry was close to figuring what oil pattern was on the bowling lane. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to go grab a beer," Harry interrupted. "Anyone else want one?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite Niall and Zayn already holding one in their hands, all members of the group took up Harry's offer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll help," Liam offered, as he returned from rolling a second strike in a row. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis watched as Harry and Liam headed to the bar together. Maybe their lad's night activity was a good decision after all? Harry fit in seamlessly from the moment their game started and Louis could already see his friends accepting Harry into the fold with open arms. Well. All but one in their group. Eric was doing a great job with pleasantries but Louis could tell he wasn't particularly fond of Harry's presence. With the exception of when it was their turn to bowl, Eric seemed set on keeping some sort of physical contact with Louis at all times. It wasn't unusual for the alpha to be close when they were at a crowded club or bar. But in a fairly empty bowling alley, it suddenly felt like Eric was being possessive. Which, fine, it was an alpha instinct and something to be expected considering Louis' ex-boyfriend was now in their midst. But Louis was starting to become overwhelmed with the scents of pumpkin spice and sandalwood practically fighting each other. Louis was fairly certain scent fighting wasn't a thing, but from the questionable looks Liam was giving him as the third alpha kept looking between Eric and Harry, Louis was starting to doubt his knowledge of scenting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zayn, Niall and Eric had all finished their turn as Harry and Liam rejoined their group, large cups of beer in hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Beers all around," Harry said as he carefully set the cups down on a side table. "With the exception of Louis, of course."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis turned from where he was about to pick up his bowling ball and asked, "With the exception of me? What?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry held up a cup of clear liquid. "I got you your water."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis crossed his arms and marched back to stand in front of Harry. "It was one time, H. One time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What was one time?" Niall asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry smirked and if it weren't so endearing Louis would happily smack it off of his face. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Louis got a bit too drunk and dropped a bowling ball on my foot," Harry explained. "As a penance he can only drink water when bowling."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's not like I did it on purpose," Louis stated. "And you were completely fine."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry cocked an eyebrow. "You broke my pinky toe, Lou. I couldn't walk for a week."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall burst out in his signature Irish cackle and the rest of the other lads quickly joined in. Louis took the opportunity to snatch the cup of beer out of Harry's other hand, gulping down nearly half of it in one go and keeping eye contact with Harry the entire time. Louis instinctively licked his lips and did his best to ignore how Harry followed the action. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll tell you the name of an animal if you give me my beer back in exchange for your deserved water," Harry said, waggling his eyebrows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis stopped from where he was about to take another sip. So he was right. Harry's concentration on each of the players during the first two turns had paid off. He knew how the lane was oiled and that was key to scoring.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis slowly handed Harry's beer back in exchange for the cup of water. He took a single sip of the bland substance with no intention to drink the rest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Cheetah," Harry simply stated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're lying," Louis groaned. "Isn't this a recreational bowling alley? The fact that they oiled the lane with any sort of official bowling pattern is impressive. But they had to pick the cheetah?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I verified it with the bartender."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis took a large sip of the water before remembering that it wasn't Harry's beer. "They're going to hate us." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yep," Harry responded, sounding far too cheerful for knowing he and Louis were both going to get a few gutter balls. Or at least miss most of the pins as they tried to settle into remembering the technicalities of curving the ball 'just so' to bring down all of the pins at once. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe we should just not try and hope for the best?" Louis suggested. He could easily pretend that Harry never said anything and continue to roll the ball down the lane in a straight line. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Now what fun would that be, Lou?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Does anyone else know what's going on?" Niall interrupted. "Or are they talking a foreign language using the names of animals as code words?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I was thinking foreign language," Zayn mused.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I have no clue," Liam added. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric remained silent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave a slight push to Louis' shoulder. "It's your turn. You've got this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis bit his lip and nodded before turning around to take his turn. Louis looked over to Eric on his way to retrieving his ball and his stomach turned at the dark expression on the alpha's face. It was very clear he was not happy but Louis would have to deal with that in a moment. He had to try to knock down some pins first. Louis had a much higher chance of getting a strike if he didn't try remembering how to curve the ball down the lane like a professional bowler, but Harry was right. They had done a lot of practicing back in the day and the competition was about to heat up now that Harry shared what he had learned about the lane. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis rolled a gutter ball on the first try and hit one pin the second.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Close, Lou!" Harry cheered as Louis turned back to have a seat. "You'll get there."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How the fuck is a gutter ball close?" Niall asked. "Not that I'm complaining or anything since it will bring us closer to winning."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis and Harry shared a knowing look as Louis took his seat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good job, babe," Eric said softly as he ran his hand down the length of Louis' neck before standing up for his turn.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thanks," Louis responded, knowing full well there was no way any teammate would give praise to knocking down one fucking pin.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam and Zayn quickly took the lead as Harry and Louis struggled to remember how the fuck to roll the ball so it spiraled into the perfect curve that you would see seasoned players make look easy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It probably would have been helpful to talk it through with each other but with Eric's hand constantly on Louis' thigh or around his shoulders, that wasn’t an option. Instead, Harry kept his focus on getting better acquainted with the rest of Louis' friends. Although Louis certainly didn't miss Harry's frequent glances between Eric and wherever he was holding onto Louis in the moment. Louis also didn't miss the fact that the longer Eric's clear possessiveness persisted, the longer the look of disapproval remained on Harry's face. It was barely noticeable but, no matter how long it had been since they were together, Louis could still read Harry's facial expressions with ease. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis couldn't decide which he was getting more annoyed with - Harry's looks of disapproval in his alpha, the fact that Eric was being so fucking possessive or the amount of pumpkin spice and sandalwood pheromones Louis’ nose was being attacked with. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were nearing the end of their first game when Liam followed Louis up to the lane for his turn. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What is going on, Lou?" Liam asked quietly, hopefully keeping the question between the two of them. "I swear, the level of their pheromones is making me nauseous. Not really, but honestly. I've never known two alphas to go after each other by way of scenting before. Or whatever the fuck they're doing. I don't know the full history of you and Harry but what the fuck? How are you not passed out on the floor by this scent tension?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm breathing through my mouth," Louis mumbled as he tried to remember how to hold a bowling ball. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Seriously?" Liam asked in whispered outrage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded. Because as of about five minutes ago he had, in fact, started to breath through his mouth. He desperately wanted to pull out his phone to google alpha scent fighting to find out if that was an actual thing that he had just never heard of. Because he needed to find out how the fuck to make the two alphas stop without offending them. Or whatever could happen as an outcome of the request. Or maybe even demand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And I can barely remember how to bowl with the two of them like this," Louis grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> doing a shit job," Liam agreed, bumping him in the shoulder. "We're going to do what Niall suggested on the next game. We're switching teams and you and Harry will be one of them. I want to see what happens."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shook his head. "Probably not a good idea."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Probably," Liam said with a shrug. "But I've never seen, or smelled, anything like this and I want to know how it plays out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can you get me a gas mask first?" Louis asked as he pulled away from Liam and took his stance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam merely laughed as he headed back to their group. Louis rolled a gutter ball. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I refuse to be on a team with Harry for our second game," Niall announced loudly as he and Liam rejoined their group with six beers in hand. Louis plucked Eric's hand off of his thigh as he rushed to grab a cup before Harry could try taking it hostage. He needed to get drunk. Or at least tipsy. Or even just to use the beverage to inhale a scent besides the combination of pumpkin spice and sandalwood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll be on your team," Eric said. Louis turned to face his boyfriend in utter shock at the offer. "We can leave Louis and Harry to try to figure out how to knock down enough pins to get a decent score."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric gave Louis a soft smile and Louis had no idea what the fuck that meant. Admittedly, Louis was less familiar with Eric's facial expressions than Harry's at times. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sounds good to me," Harry said as he pried the beer out of Louis' hands and replaced it with a cup of water. "Maybe with a little alpha support Lou can roll a proper curveball."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The entire group fell silent and Louis looked over to Niall in a silent cry for him to do something. Anything. Be the loud, tension breaker, Irishman he was born to be. Instead Niall remained frozen, his cup of beer mere inches from his lips, but not moving any farther as his eyes flitted between Harry, Eric and Louis several times.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I said that out loud, didn't I?" Harry finally said, his entire neck and face turning scarlet. "I'm so sorry, Eric. And Liam. And every other alpha in the room. That came out completely wrong. It's just that me and Lou used to bowl a lot back in the day and we obviously both suck now. Maybe if we have a chance to talk through techniques together we can land a few strikes."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Debatable," Niall stated, thankfully having found words and body movement again.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's not an alpha thing," Harry rushed on. "I was beta when we were bowling. It's just a team thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's cool," Eric said cordially, waving his hand in the air as if to dismiss the comment. "If you know bowling techniques that I don't then I get it. Me and Lou were in our own little world for the first game so we should mix things up anyway."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis furrowed his brow as he watched Eric move across the area, taking the seat that Harry had previously been occupying. He had no clue what to make of the statement. Or his action to suddenly let Louis have space again to allow the opportunity to spend time with Harry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm only going to be on your team if I can have my beer back, H," Louis huffed, folding his arms in defiance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry smirked. "Hit a strike on your first time up and you can have it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave a single nod. "Done."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall snorted. Louis shot him a glare. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry beamed as he handed Louis a full cup of beer. "Not quite a professional shot, but a deal's a deal."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis smiled and took a sip of his well deserved beer. It was more luck than anything else, but he got a strike on his first turn and that's what mattered. He finally got his own beer instead of sneaking sips of Eric's like he had been throughout the first game.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the fuck just happened?" Niall asked as he pointed an accusatory finger between Harry and Louis. "Were you both faking being shit bowlers in our first game?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What Niall said," Zayn chimed in. "You were barely hitting pins the entire first round and now both of you got a strike on your first go? Let's switch back to our original teams."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It was luck," Louis and Harry said in unison, causing them both to break out in a quick fit of giggles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Or maybe it's a result of the significant drop in pheromones," Liam mumbled. He seemed to be directing the statement towards Zayn, but it was sure to be overheard by Eric and Harry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis looked between Harry and Eric who both grimaced and seemed to share an apologetic look towards one another. Louis couldn't decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're up Niall," Louis announced, in an attempt to get everyone's attention back on the game.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Right," Niall said, clapping Eric on the shoulder. "No worries, mate. I refuse to let anyone else win."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Agreed," Eric said with ease. Louis caught Eric's eye and the alpha gave him a wink as Louis continued to wonder what had happened in the past couple minutes that caused Eric's defensive alpha demeanor to practically dissipate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come here, Lou," Harry said, giving Louis a soft nudge in the arm. "We need to study."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Study?" Louis asked with a raised eyebrow. "What are we studying?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Bowling, silly," Harry replied with a huff. "I refuse to let you play a game full of lucky strikes. Let's get in the zone and show these lads how it's really done."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aren't we supposed to be playing for fun?" Louis asked. It was a question that he had been wondering the entirety of the first game since he had definitely not been having fun with Eric's constant hold and Louis not having a gas mask.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Humor me, lo-,” Harry started, his cheeks quickly turning a pretty shade of pink. Louis barely managed to hold in a snort at Harry's embarrassment while simultaneously panicking that Eric may have overheard Harry's slip of the tongue in almost using Louis' pet name. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis cocked his head to the side in question and nearly slapped himself for the action as Harry's focus zoomed into Louis' exposed neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Bowling, H. Bowling," Louis rushed as he reached for his phone. "What am I looking up?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know," Harry said with a shrug. "Bowling oil patterns?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so it continued. Louis made sure to engage in small bouts of conversation and attempts to sabotage the other teams, but for the most part Harry and Louis kept to themselves as they googled and studied tips from professional bowlers. They stood side by side as each took their turn, working together to perfect their form. It was slightly more difficult than in the past as Harry was obviously set on not touching Louis to make adjustments to his form. But it was still enjoyable to have a partner who reminded Louis of how challenging bowling could be while still having fun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis knew Eric was keeping a close eye on him but thankfully there was no additional scent fighting throughout the game so Louis could concentrate. It also allowed him to soak in Harry's alpha scent. His calming pheromones helped in keeping Louis focused on the task at hand, but after Louis threw his final strike of the game it seemed as if Harry's scent dimmed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You were brilliant, Lou," Harry praised quietly as they walked back towards their friends. The feel of Harry's hand on the small of his back was electric as he guided Louis over to Eric and Louis realized it was the first time Harry had touched him throughout the entire night. Other than the occasional pokes and nudges to keep Louis focused on the game of course. But Louis concluded those didn't count. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So now that the two of you aren't in some weird bowling zone," Niall began. "I'd just like to say how much I appreciate you losing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Excuse you," Louis protested as he pointed to the scoreboard. "I think you need to adjust your maths."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric laughed softly as he wrapped his arm around Louis' waist. "You missed Niall's comment about gutter balls. Somehow the two of you managed to score more strikes which led you to the win. But Niall decided whoever got the most gutter balls was the automatic loser."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait a minute," Liam interrupted as he stared at the scoreboard. "Even if we were playing by that rule, which I didn't hear, by the way, you and Eric still would have lost."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> obviously missed the rule that teams with people named Zayn and Liam were disqualified from winning," Niall stated. "So you might want to have a chat with your parents on why they gave you names that would result in automatically losing bowling competitions."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric jumped in response to Harry throwing his head back and honking out a laugh. Which, to be fair was a valid response since the noise was slightly off-putting. Well, to everyone but Louis. Louis internally rejoiced at hearing the familiar laughter, though the fact that Niall was the one to cause it, and not Louis, was slightly disappointing. Either way, it was good to hear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway," Niall continued. "Will Loser Louis please accompany me to the loo?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis glanced between Eric and Niall, wondering if they had made some sort of post game plan that might involve dunking Louis' head in the toilet or something. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I have no idea," Eric said with a shrug, as he let go of Louis' waist. So much for Eric being protective. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall rolled his eyes. "You're coming with me so you can buy me a celebratory beer on the way back. Don't get any weird ideas."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Uh huh," Louis responded, unsure if he should believe Niall or not.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall rolled his eyes, catching Louis' hand and practically dragging him away from their group and toward the loo. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once they were out of earshot of their friends Niall slowed his pace and announced. "You are so fucked, Lou. And not in a good way."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis furrowed his brows as he pulled Niall to a stop. "What are you on about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've always wondered what it would be like to be stuck in a love triangle," Niall said. "They look kind of exciting in movies and TV shows and all that. But I'm not sure now. Because you're definitely in one and, while it's a bit exciting to know two alphas are fighting over you, I wouldn't want to be you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis fish-mouthed for a few moments before instructing, "Please elaborate. In detail."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall nodded in the direction of the loo and the pair continued walking. "I think I can say, with assurity, that Harry didn't dump you, mate. I think he legitimately felt like he wasn't good enough for you, thinking he was a beta. That lad is fucking gone for you. You're going to have to ask him why he didn't come searching for you when he presented because I really need to know. And if you won't ask then you better believe I will."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No you won't," Louis interrupted. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear anything else Niall had to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I fucking will," Niall stated. "I think he believes you're his omega and probably always has. Which brings me to the other corner of your love triangle. I have no idea what the fuck Eric is thinking. Like at first he's this insanely overprotective alpha. And then the next minute he's having a laugh as he sits back and watches the Harry and Louis show."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The what?" Louis asked in confusion.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall shrugged. "Like I said, it seems pretty clear that Harry loves you. Or maybe it's a new alpha response. Or, I don't know, joy in a renewed friendship. I could practically see Eric's mind whirling as he tried to figure it out."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Harry and I don't have a relationship," Louis pointed out. "My relationship is with Eric."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah, well, you're in a love triangle and you better get out of it. And fast. When's your heat again?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Two weeks."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shit, that's soon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What am I supposed to do?" Louis asked as they entered the loo. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall stopped in the middle of the room and tapped his finger against his chin as if deep in thought, eventually saying, "Maybe you should let your inner omega decide?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And by that you mean...?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall cocked an eyebrow. "You, as Louis Tomlinson, love both men. Don't bother denying it because it won't work. So maybe you'd be happy being with either one of them. But only as Louis Tomlinson."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That makes zero sense," Louis stated as he placed his hands on his hips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"As a third party observer it does." Niall stated. "Just go with it, okay?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Mhmm..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So what it's going to come down to is omega Louis," Niall continued. "Who is your true alpha? Or who is your true beta turned alpha? Since I still don't think Harry being an actual alpha has sunk in yet. Omega Louis might still see him as an alpha-y beta."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're seriously making no sense," Louis huffed in frustration. This was probably going to confuse him even more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Whatever," Niall said, waving his hand in the air as if Louis' comment meant nothing. "Whose scent does omega Louis prefer? Which alpha does omega Louis want to have pups with?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis' eyes widened at Niall's last question. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That was one of the big reasons Harry let you go, was it not?" Niall asked before Louis had a chance to respond. "He wanted you to have the opportunity to have your own pups?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes," Louis squeaked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Right," Niall said with a nod. "You have to think this all the way through with your future in mind. I think both them are great and I'd be honored to be your best man at your mating ceremony for either one. And if you're not sure what to do, maybe you could ask Eric to put off mating for a bit to give you time?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Maybe..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall stepped closer into Louis’ space and poked him in the chest. "Promise me that you will not settle for one or the other because you feel some sort of obligation or something. Dump them both and go find a new alpha if you have to."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall poked him harder. "Seriously, mate. I'm your best friend and I'm making you promise."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis' mind was a mess but he nodded again in agreement. "I promise."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall grinned. "Excellent. On that note, I have to admit this was the most fun I've had in ages. I wouldn't want to be you but the love triangle thing has been fun to watch."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I hate you," Louis groaned. How had this happened? And how did Niall end up being the one telling Louis what to do with his love life? Or what not to do in this case. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Come buy me my beer," Niall instructed as he headed towards the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I thought you had to use the toilet," Louis said. "Why are we in here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall scoffed. "It's not like I could interfere with your love life in the middle of your triangle. You don't think that would be a bit awkward?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged. "Fair enough. Let's go."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lad's night out was such a fucking awesome idea," Niall commented as he opened the door. "We need to do this again. Maybe tomorrow? I think Zayn is working but I could bring some popcorn for me and Liam to eat while we watch what comes next in the Louis' Love Triangle episode."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"If I ever have a mating ceremony, you're not invited," Louis stated. "And the only reason I'm buying you a beer is so everyone else doesn't get suspicious about why you would drag me with you to the toilets."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Eric and Harry are probably having a glaring competition while Liam and Zayn watch," Niall said. "They probably didn't even miss us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh my God," Louis mumbled. But Niall was right. He was fucked. And not in the good way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis woke slowly the next morning, refusing to open his eyes against the sun that was streaming into the room. Confusion washed over him as he took a deep breath through his nose and found it squished against Eric's shoulder. The pillow he thought he was cuddling to his chest gave a soft grunt as Louis gave it a tight squeeze and Louis wrinkled his nose at the scent that seemed to be floating around the room. The soft sandalwood scent that he was used to waking up to smelled a bit stale. Which was particularly odd because Louis didn't think sandalwood could smell stale. Maybe he was still dreaming?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Morning, Louis."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis furrowed his brows at the greeting. He didn't know what time it was but Eric sounded wide awake. It wasn't exactly unusual for him to be the first to wake up on a Saturday morning but Louis was pretty sure the alpha dozed in and out until Louis shuffled around in his arms to signal he was also awake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which brought Louis into another state of confusion. Eric had never been in the position of being the little spoon. Like, ever. The alpha had never explicitly said anything, but Louis had a feeling it made Eric feel inferior in some way. It was as if being the big spoon was part of the role being an alpha. Louis had come close to asking Liam about it one time, but decided against it since it's not like knowing an alpha's spooning preference would change anything in Louis' relationship. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let me go, babe," Eric said quietly as he wiggled out of Louis' arms. "I need to wee."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis promptly released his hold and rolled onto his back as Eric stood up and tugged on a shirt. Louis stared up at the ceiling as if it held the answer as to how sandalwood could smell stale. And why it started to diminish into Eric's usual scent as he headed out of the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully he didn't have time to dwell on it, as Eric was back in the room and crawling under the covers. Louis turned onto his side so they could face each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis’ curiosity got the better of him and he broke the silence by questioning their new found sleeping arrangement.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So I got to be the big spoon last night?" Louis asked as he waggled his eyebrows. "That's new."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>If Louis hadn't been paying close attention he may have missed the quick grimace that crossed Eric's face and for some reason it caused his stomach to drop. Was that not something Eric had wanted? How did they end up like that then? Or why?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric gently ran his fingers along Louis' bare arm. "It was certainly different, that's for sure."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis furrowed his brows. "Different in a good way? Or a bad way? Or a neutral way?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric dropped his eyes which Louis took as a sign that the alpha didn't like it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm confused," Louis admitted. "If you didn't like it, as I seem to be sensing, then why?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to make us breakfast," Eric said, an obvious attempt to not answer. Although he had to have known Louis wasn't going to let the subject drop, right? Because he wasn't. Louis enjoyed being the big spoon every now and again and Harry didn't seem to mind when they were together. In fact, Louis got the sense that he even enjoyed it. Was it because it was an omega/beta relationship? Either way, why should an omega be restricted to just the one position?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Morning breakfast two weekends in a row?" Louis asked, submitting to Eric's desire to drop the topic. "What did I do to deserve such royal treatment?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric leaned in and gave a quick kiss to Louis' forehead. "Simply because you're you." Eric rolled out of bed for the second time and said, "I'll call you when it's ready. And we can talk."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis opened his mouth to say something, but he wasn't sure what. It didn't matter though as Eric was rushing out of the room before Louis would get a word in. Was Louis going to get an answer about sleeping positions? Or was this something else?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A knot formed in his stomach as Louis turned the words around in his mind. Something had seemed off the previous night after he and Eric had returned from their lad’s night out. Despite curling up on the couch together to watch a movie, Eric had seemed distant. It was an odd sensation given the fact that the alpha was holding Louis tight into his body as they took turns scenting each other. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis dismissed the knot in his stomach and concluded it had only been an instinctive reaction to meeting Louis' ex-boyfriend. If it were the other way around, Louis probably would have reacted the same way. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For you, babe," Eric said with a smile as he set a plate full of yummy food in front of Louis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric grabbed his own plate and took a seat across from him. Louis realized with a start that they had been in this exact position almost a week ago when Louis had blurted out that he wanted to mate. And now it was only two weeks away. Time was moving too fast. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you want to talk about?" Louis asked tentatively. He needed to get the words out before the tension in the room began to suffocate him. Honestly, maybe he should invest in a gas mask. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric swallowed his piece of toast as his eyes flitted across the room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis sighed, finally deciding Eric was probably still on edge from their time bowling the previous day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry about yesterday," Louis said when it was clear that Eric's lips were temporarily glued shut. "I know it was awkward being there with Harry. I should have just told him from the start that we shouldn't be friends. He would have easily found people to hang out with once he's settled with school and things could continue as normal. I still can, you know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Still can what?" Eric asked with a raised eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged. "Tell Harry that we shouldn't be friends. We can go our separate ways like he wanted years ago."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric let out a humorous laugh. "You really believe that, don't you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis set his fork down and folded his hands in front of him. He didn't know exactly where this conversation was going, but he was fairly certain it was going to result in losing his appetite. He might as well stop eating while he was ahead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course I believe that," Louis huffed. "Anyway, can we perhaps move on to something besides talking about Harry? We're mating in two weeks, remember? I'll unfriend Harry to make things simpler. The end. So what did you really want to talk about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric took a sip of water before continuing. "Us."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis blinked in response and waited. And continued to wait for some sort of elaboration. Still waiting...</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "For fucks sake, Eric. You're the one who said you wanted to talk. At least give me something to respond to."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric let out a soft sigh. "I love you, Louis. You know that, right?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded but didn't respond verbally. Eric knew the answer so it wasn't necessary.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I love you, babe," Eric repeated. "And that's why I can't mate with you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis furrowed his brows in a deep frown. "Excuse me? Why wouldn't you want to mate with me? Because it's seemed pretty obvious lately. Especially when you said yes." His decision to stop eating when he had was clearly the smart move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, babe, you deserve-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the fuck?" Louis growled, pushing his plate of food to the far side of the table. "What the actual fuck? Are you about to say the word deserve? As in deserve something else? Or someone else? Because I've heard that line before, Eric. Right before I was fucking dumped."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's not that, Lou," Eric rushed, waving his hands in front of him in some nonsensical pattern. "It's just that you deserve to be with-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis' chair screeched across the kitchen floor as he flew out of his seat. "If you're about to dump me, maybe we could save this conversation for when it's snowing outside. We could sit in the freezing cold and you can recite exactly what Harry said. I feel like that would be fitting since apparently I'm not good enough for a beta or alpha to love me in return."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's only the beginning of fall," Eric unnecessarily pointed out. "And I'm not blind, Louis. Harry loves you and I'm never going to be able to replace him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck you," Louis spat out before turning to leave the kitchen. "I was ready to mate with you for fuck’s sake."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you want to know why I was the little spoon this morning?" Eric asked, quickly catching up to Louis and grabbing him by the wrist to stop his retreat. "Because I was woken up in the middle of the night with you pushing on my chest and mumbling something about how I never let you be the big spoon anymore. You were mumbling something like asking when I decided that I didn't like being the little spoon."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis stopped his struggle of getting away from Eric. That had to be a lie. There's no way Louis would have said that out loud.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you weren't talking about me, Lou," Eric continued. "We both know you were talking about Harry. Which I admit is interesting since he's so much bigger than you, but that's beside the point."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis almost opened his mouth to explain that Harry liked it that way but thankfully clamped his lips closed in time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric squeezed Louis' wrist to keep him in place. "I thought mating with you would bring us closer. And when we bonded I figured you would finally be able to let go of him for good. But that was when Harry was just an ex-boyfriend from your past. Even in the few minutes spent talking on the porch last week I could sense there was more. And yesterday confirmed it. I think his intentions were pure when he let you go in order to find an alpha. But it's clear he never stopped loving you and, I'm more certain than ever, that you never stopped loving him. I know you love me, babe. But your inner omega is never going to accept me as your alpha. Not really."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis refused to look at Eric. Not that he would be able to see him with his vision blurring over from the tears that were quickly forming. They were supposed to mate in two weeks and now what? Louis had loved two people in his entire life. He was pretty sure that both men loved him in return. And yet neither of them wanted Louis as their omega. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric tugged on his arm and Louis let the alpha pull him into a tight hug which resulted in Louis bursting out in ugly sobbing. In the back of his mind he wanted to shake Eric off of him. He had just dumped him for fuck's sake. But, on the other hand, Louis knew he would need the alpha pheromones. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let's sit," Eric said softly as he led them over to the couch. If Louis could manage to cry harder than he was he probably would have. Why was Eric being so nice? The alpha had just told Louis that he loved him before breaking up. How was it affecting Eric? On the other hand, maybe he shouldn't be breaking up with Louis and all would be just fine. They could bond and enjoy a life together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry, babe," Eric whispered as Louis’ tears began to dry. "The start of that conversation didn't really go as planned since you jumped to a conclusion so quickly. You were correct obviously, but still. I know this is hard. For both of us. But it's for the best."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shook his head into Eric's chest. It wasn't. It really wasn't.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric kissed the top of his head and Louis pulled out of the alpha's arms. He gave a slight glare, saying, "Please don't kiss me when you've just dumped me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it, simply nodding in response. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm going to go to Niall's for a bit," Louis stated. "Probably stay the night. We can figure out stuff later."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis internally cringed at the thought, almost causing himself to break down in tears again. He and Eric had been sharing the same flat for months now. Their entire lives were so intertwined it was going to be torture to pack up and separate. And where the fuck was Louis even going to go? He could probably find an affordable flat somewhere but losing his small amount of disposable income would be a hard blow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou..." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis turned from where he had almost made it out of the room. He really didn't want to hear anything that Eric had to say at the moment but he also didn't want to have it look like he was just storming off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric picked at an invisible piece of lint on his shirt as he spoke. "You need to know that this wasn't just a spur of the moment decision. It's not like I took one look at you and Harry and decided we were over. Deep down I think I always knew. It's why I didn't want to be the first to bring up mating. You weren't ready. Not with me, at least. And that's okay."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded in acknowledgment of Eric's words but elected not to respond. Not now. Maybe not ever. Instead, he continued into the bedroom to pack an overnight bag, making a point to find Niall's spare key in case his friend wasn't home. Louis didn't want to risk starting an explanation over text. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was about to pull out Niall's key when the door finally swung open. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou?" Niall question. He gave Louis a once over and asked, "Have you been crying?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," Louis lied, even though his eyes were no doubt still red and puffy from his few spurts of tears on the way to Niall's flat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay..." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can I come in?" Louis asked impatiently. "What are you doing today?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think it might depend on why you look like you haven't been crying," Niall said, a small smirk on his face. "Are we getting pissed? Curling up on the couch and watching rom coms? Closing my black out curtains and whispering under the covers as we share each other's deep dark secrets?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis couldn't contain a small smile. Niall was a good lad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Eric dumped me," Louis stated as he pushed past Niall. "He made the same breakfast as last week when we decided to mate and then proceeded to dump me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait, what?" Niall asked, clearly shocked by the revelation. "He broke up with you? Why? I know I was telling you that you needed to make a decision about what alpha you wanted to be with. But that was literally just yesterday afternoon. Were you even able to think about it? Because Eric breaking up with you doesn't exactly provide you the opportunity to make a solid decision."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You think?" Louis said bitterly as he headed towards Niall's couch while focusing on not crying again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall sat down slowly and asked, "What exactly happened? I mean, I get that maybe he was a little jealous of you and Harry but it seems kind of extreme to break up out of nowhere. Shit, Lou. I'm sorry."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You want to know what happened?" Louis asked, throwing an underserved glare at Niall. "He practically repeated the same speech Harry gave me years ago. About how I deserve someone better. Or whatever the fuck he was going to say before I cut him off. I didn't want to hear some shit speech about what I do and don't deserve. You'd think I'd get some say in the situation."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm so confused right now," Niall mused. "This doesn't usually happen in love triangles."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis scoffed. "You mean the person in the middle being dumped by both people? I guess it makes my decision easier, right? I'll just go with option number three and find a new alpha."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall wrapped his arm around Louis' shoulder and pulled him into his side. The touch felt nice, and Louis leaned into his friend. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I think it's a little premature to make that choice, don't you think?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why?" Louis mumbled as he curled into Niall's chest. "I've only really been in two long term relationships my entire life. I should see what other alphas have to offer. Or betas for that matter since I was perfectly happy with the one I'd been with. Or whatever secondary gender it was that Harry was in."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They sat in silence for a few moments, providing time for the news to sink in.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Were you able to think about it?" Niall eventually asked. "About who you would have chosen?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis snorted. "It doesn't really matter does it? Both of them told me that they loved me. Both of them don't want me as their omega. There's no choice to make."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a loud knock on Niall's door and Louis pulled out from Niall's hold. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shit," Niall mumbled. "Fuck."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You know who it is?" Louis asked. "You could have told me you were expecting someone. I can come back later."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No," Niall frantically said, glancing between Louis and the direction of his front door. "I mean, yes. I know who it is but it's not important. Give me a minute to make up some shit excuse, that will have nothing to do with you, and then we can decide what to do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ni, I don't want to disrupt your plans," Louis replied. "I brought my laptop so I can go to the coffee shop or something and work. It would probably help to clear my mind."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hush," Niall instructed as he headed towards the door. "I'll be right back."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave up on protesting and stretched out on the couch. As bad as he felt for ruining Niall's plans he couldn't help but feel grateful. Sure, working on lesson plans would take his mind off of things but it would merely be a temporary distraction. Talking with his best friend was probably the best choice. He'd make it up to Niall at a later time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Normally he would do a bit of eavesdropping on whatever was going on with Niall and whoever was at the door but Louis elected to lay down and dig his face into Niall's fluffy throw pillow. Once again, having to focus on not crying. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis still didn't know what he would have chosen. Or who, to be more specific. Would Louis have chosen Harry and ended up being the one breaking up with Eric? It was quite possible, if he were truly honest with himself. But the fact that the choice was basically ripped away so suddenly a second time left Louis completely lost. And since Eric had used literally the exact same reasoning as Harry. Louis couldn’t even use a compare and contrast breakup scenario to help in deciding what to do with his future. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I know he's here," Louis heard someone say gruffly. The voice was slightly muffled but Louis knew it was Harry at the front door. And from the tone of his voice Niall wasn't going to be able to ward him off. Louis squished his face into Niall's pillow and silently cursed his best friend for his ability to make new friends so quickly. It had to be the Irish accent. Or something Irish-y. For the most part it was endearing. Obviously not today. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Harry!" Niall hissed. "Just..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Louis..." Harry said on an exhale as he entered the room. Or Louis assumed since his face was still buried in Niall's pillow. Louis was pretty sure he was past the point of bursting out in tears but it was probably best to not take the chance by looking at the beta turned alpha love of his life. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Go away, H," Louis mumbled. "Another day." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite his nose being buried in Niall's pillow, Louis knew Harry was by his side from how strong the scent of pumpkin spice had become. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, you're trembling," Harry said softly. "What happened? What can I do?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't really think this is the best time, Harry," Niall said from somewhere in the room. "Seriously, mate. Let's make a rain check and hang out tomorrow."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"At least tell me where his alpha is," Harry stated. "Is he on his way? I don't want Louis to have to drop."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall remained silent. Louis let out a pathetic whine. Harry's pheromones went haywire. Louis responded with a whimper to Harry's reaction to words that hadn't even been spoken about the status of Eric's whereabouts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't have an alpha," Louis said into the pillow, his voice cracking mid sentence. "Please go away, H."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ow!" Niall yelped as the smell of pumpkin spice drifted away. "What the fuck, Harry?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Having concluded that Harry and Niall had left the room, Louis pulled his face out of the pillow before he could accidentally suffocate himself. He could hear the sounds of Niall and Harry talking in the next room but couldn't make out any words. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou," Niall said, walking back into the room and stopping in front of Louis' line of sight. "There's a very stubborn alpha in the kitchen and I'm not sure what to do with him. I need your help."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis couldn't help but smile at the imagery and he lifted his head to better address his friend. "That's what you get for being so Irish-y and making friends so easily. It's your own doing, Ni. You're on your own."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall cracked a small grin. "I can't help if people are attracted to my charm. And I've never had a problem with it until now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis cocked an eyebrow. "So you're saying that Harry refuses to leave because you're so charming. Well done, lad."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall threw him a glare which Louis simply shrugged off. Or halfway shrugged since he was lying on his side. Semantics.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Seriously," Niall continued, all joking aside. "I see his point in not wanting to leave. I've only seen you go into an omega drop once but, if I remember correctly, your eyes started to look all glazed over like what I'm now noticing. I can call Liam if you want. But I think it would be a good idea to have an alpha around."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis pushed himself back into a seated position and stated, "I'm not going to drop. I'm fine."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, you're not," Harry's deep voice sounded from the entryway. "Niall won't tell me what's happened but you're not definitely not fine, Louis. And I will not leave you like this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis crossed his arms defensively. "Why not? You've done it before."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For fuck's sake," Niall mumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's not what..." Harry started. But whatever he was about to say was cut short as he rushed to Louis' side, quickly wrapping his long arms around Louis' shoulder and pulling him tight into his body. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't drop," Harry instructed, sitting back and arranging Louis so his face was tucked into the crook of Harry's neck. It was the prime spot for Louis to scent him if he wanted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis whimpered as he tried to keep himself from scenting the alpha. He wasn't sure why exactly but Louis' mind was suddenly fuzzy and overwhelmed from the events of the morning to try to figure out his thoughts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why not let him drop?" Louis heard Niall ask. "Wouldn't he come out of it feeling a lot calmer or something?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've never pulled him out of a drop as an alpha," Harry said quietly. Louis wasn't sure if he was answering Niall or talking to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But you did when you were a beta? Or whatever the fuck secondary gender you were in?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry remained silent but Louis was pretty sure he was nodding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So let the poor man go into an omega drop and you can be his alpha in shining armor when he's ready to come out of it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But I'm not-" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh my God," Niall cut in. "Just use your alpha voice and tell him to drop before he does it on his own. He'll be out for hours if he drops on his own accord."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was very possible that Louis was hallucinating the conversation between the pair, but either way Louis couldn't help but think how much he loved Niall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll be here when you're ready, baby," Harry whispered into Louis' ear. He said something else but Louis completely missed it as he felt a tight squeeze on the back of his neck before the whole world turned dark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis blinked awake to find himself still on the couch, but now positioned on his back and his head pillowed on top of Harry's thighs. Harry was already looking down at him with a soft smile on his face as he weaved his fingers through Louis' hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey there," Harry said in a near whisper. "Welcome back. Do you feel any better?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis took stock in his surroundings to find it was just him and Harry in the room. It had been a while since Louis had dropped so coming out of it was refreshing in a way. Well, kind of. At least until he had to sort through all of his feelings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Where's Niall?" Louis asked instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Liam texted him," Harry explained. "He went to go help him with something. Not sure what."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The little shit," Louis mumbled. He would bet anything that Niall lied through his teeth so he could leave Louis alone with Harry to talk. Louis' brain to mouth filter wasn't exceptional to begin with and Niall probably gambled on the fact that Louis would be more likely to let down his guard and be more open to communication after having just come out of his omega space.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You never answered my question, Lou," Harry pointed out. "Do you feel any better?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded. Harry's comforting pheromones were helping as a temporary fix. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry asked hesitantly. "Niall didn't really say much."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis closed his eyes and turned his head so he was no longer looking up at Harry's beautiful features. The tenderness in his eyes was intoxicating in a way and he couldn't afford to get caught up in them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why did you leave me, H?" Louis blurted out, still not looking up at him. "Why did you say we should go on a break and then completely ghost me?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I didn't plan to, Louis." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis looked back up at Harry and found sadness in his eyes. Maybe a bit of regret. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So?" Louis prodded. "You still ghosted me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"My last text messages were right before I started my first rut," Harry continued. "When I came out of it I guess I was, I don't know, maybe embarrassed? Or ashamed?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis remained silent. He should probably sit up so they could properly face each other for a conversation Louis had not planned to have. Especially today. But the feel of Harry's touch kept him still. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And?" Louis prompted, starting to get a bit impatient. For some reason, he was just now realizing how easily he had let Harry waltz back into his life. Niall's curiosity in regards to his ex-boyfriend hadn't exactly helped Louis in figuring out his feelings. And Eric had basically broken up with him because of Harry. So Harry really needed to start talking. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry let out a soft sigh. "Lou, I had just pushed you away, practically forcing you to find someone else. Specifically an alpha. I had honestly thought for so long that I would present as an alpha. You knew that. There were things I didn't tell you about because none of it made sense to me. All I knew was I wanted to be yours. Your alpha. But I obviously wasn't. And then you know how people started talking about you needing an alpha and deep down I knew they were right. I couldn't keep you from a potential bond with someone who could give you pups and such. Especially since I knew how much you want them. And then when your mum told that story that one night about helping with an omega's delivery I finally decided I had to let you go and give you a chance."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Silence fell around them, giving Louis a few moments to process what Harry was saying. It was still a shit excuse but one thing stuck out in Harry's pathetic explanation that piqued Louis' curiosity. Breaking the silence, he asked, "What made you so sure you would present?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Your scent, Lou. It was so fucking strong at times. And yeah, if one is a beta they can smell it if they want to. But like I said before, I could pick you out even if we were in a room full of people. That isn't normal for a beta."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave a small nod but again remained silent. There had to be something besides just that. At least there better be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And making sure we saw each other at least once a week when we were still together wasn't just for you. Well, it was because I didn't want you to have any touch deprivation or anything. But I missed your scent so fucking much when we were apart. And I'm sure you just thought I was going through the motions of scenting each other because I knew your inner omega needed it. But there just seemed to be more. Something beyond a beta trying to help their omega boyfriend."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shrugged. "But I never presented. I could never be your alpha. And, like I said, you needed to experience what it was like being taken care of for real."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis glanced up at Harry. He was pretty sure he had never seen Harry look so upset while also maintaining complete composure. None of this was making sense. Why hadn't Harry ever shared this? They were best friends, boyfriends and self pro-claimed soulmates for fuck's sake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't understand," Louis finally said as he sat up and scooted out of Harry's personal space. The comfort of coming out of his drop was quickly wearing off at Harry's words. "Why the fuck didn't you ever share any of that?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shrugged. "I couldn't make sense of what was happening so how was I supposed to explain it to you?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Words," Louis stated, a bit harshly. "Words would have helped, H. Maybe we could have figured it out together. But instead you just brushed me aside. Why? Because you couldn't pop a knot? Do you really think I'm that shallow?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well, you did beg for my knot during every single one of your heats," Harry noted. "A knot I didn't have, mind you. So, yeah, there was that too. You obviously needed one."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the fuck, H!" Louis shouted, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation. "I was in heat! If I needed my alpha to have a fucking knot, than I would have told you! We could have had a mutual breakup or something. But you fucking threw me to the curb, leaving me alone for some knothead to come along. Thank fuck I found Eric fairly quickly. Although obviously he wasn't as invested in our relationship as I thought."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis grabbed Niall's throw pillow and hugged it as he sat back on the couch. He didn't know what else to say at this point and unfortunately he didn't have a flat to go home to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you just say?" Harry asked, turning to him with wide eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shot him a glare, "I said you're a fucking arsehole who can piss off. I don't have a flat right now so please go and leave me in peace."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shook his head slowly, his face contorting into numerous emotions that Louis didn't feel like trying to decipher.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's not what you... you called me your... but I wasn't..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis couldn't figure out if Harry was talking to himself or addressing Louis in some form of broken language that Louis had no intention of translating. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine then," Louis huffed as he stood up. "If you want to stay here, that's fine. But I'm going to go take a nap in Niall's bed." Louis paused as he passed Harry. "I'll see you later, H. Unless you decide to disappear for a couple years, coming back just in time to ruin another one of my relationships."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Louis, wait," Harry called. "Can we just..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis flipped him the finger and continued towards Niall's bedroom wondering how their conversation had ended up having more conflict than Eric breaking up with him only hours ago. Maybe it was pent-up emotions.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, wake up," Niall called from somewhere in Louis' dreamless sleep. "Harry's gone."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For good?" Louis croaked. "Like, for good good?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're impossible," Niall said, shoving Louis in the shoulder. "No. But Liam's here so come join us. We brought beer if you want to get proper pissed."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis heaved himself off the bed. "Sounds good to me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Louis, mate!" Liam greeted with a cheerful smile once he and Niall made it out to the living room. "How are you feeling?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like shit," Louis replied, furrowing his brows at Liam's apparent enthusiasm. "You?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam's face dropped. "I heard. I'm sorry."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course you did," Louis grumbled, throwing a Look at NIall, who merely shrugged it off. Not that Louis should have expected Niall to keep Louis' breakup news to himself.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you want to talk about it?" Liam asked. "Maybe we could order some takeaway and get a bit buzzed first."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded. It's not like there was much else he could do. And maybe his friend's could help with Louis' predicament. Liam was the most sensible one in their group and would surely have helpful insight. Hopefully. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They settled on their usual order from the Chinese place down the street and, beers in hand, got comfortable lounging around the living room. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So..." Liam started. Louis internally groaned. He should have known Liam wouldn't be able to wait until Louis was on his way to getting pissed to start up a serious conversation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis cocked an eyebrow and said, "Niall obviously told you about me and Eric breaking up. Or, rather, Eric breaking up with me. I highly doubt that's all he said."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam shrugged, a small smile on his face. "Fair enough. There was plenty to see last night too. And smell, of course."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall looked between Liam and Louis. "What did I miss last night?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Trust me," Liam stated. "It was for the best. I've never known two alphas to go at each other like that." Liam turned to Louis and continued. "I googled about whatever was happening with their pheromones, by the way. It seems to be a rare occurrence but it happens. Most things I read said that the alphas usually don't even realize that they're doing it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Doing what?" Niall asked, confusion written all over his face. "What excitement between the participants of The Love Triangle did I miss out on?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alpha Eric and Alpha Harry had an omega in their midst that they both considered their mate. They were both trying to scent mark said omega," Liam explained. "I think that's why Eric had such a tight hold on you during the first game. I'm guessing Harry was winning the scent marking contest and, by extension, showing that he was the true alpha to the omega. So Eric was instinctively reacting in a physical manner. Alpha Eric had the upper hand due to the fact that he could physically scent mark The Omega if he wanted."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For fuck's sake. Why do you keep referring to me as the Omega?" Louis asked, with a roll of his eyes. "And I don't know where you found your sources but a scent marking contest is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam shrugged. "Maybe. But on the other hand Zayn asked to leave at one point because he was becoming so overwhelmed by the pheromones. I guess the mixture of sandalwood and pumpkin spice was not pleasing to his senses."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"God!" Niall burst out. "I missed out on one of the best parts of the night! I prefer my beta genes but fuck. The Love Triangle just got so much better!" Niall grimaced, giving Louis an apologetic look. "Forget I said that. The Love Triangle shall never be spoken of again."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Mhmm," Louis murmured. He highly doubted Niall would be able to let it go of the term so quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway," Liam continued. "What about Harry?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis huffed. "What about him? He can go fuck off for all I care. Me and Eric were supposed to be mating in two weeks. I was perfectly happy with that and Harry just shows up out of the blue to ruin a perfectly good relationship. Harry still hasn't even given any sort of explanation as to why he took so fucking long to come find me after presenting. Or stalk me. Or torture me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam furrowed his brow. "You really need an explanation?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes," Niall and Louis responded in unison.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I like the lad, and all," Niall stated. "Besides the whole breakup part, of course. And the past couple weeks of getting to know him in person has been great. But Louis' right. He still has no explanation why he would show up like he did. Louis' instagram is public so Harry easily would have known that Louis was with someone. Harry could have at least had the decency to intervene in Louis' relationship before things got so serious."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis pointed to Niall and nodded. "What he said."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But he told you to go and experience being with an alpha," Liam noted. "Not to point out the obvious, but you and Eric are selfie obsessed. So we'll just assume that Harry was looking at your Instagram occasionally. By doing so, he would see that you were happy. As such, he wasn't going to get involved in something that he had practically initiated."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis snorted. "And yet he showed up on my porch years later. The day that me and Eric decided to mate no less."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam took a sip of his beer and shrugged. "Pictures don't always tell the full story. He probably just wanted to check up on you to make sure you were happy. It's very likely he would have bowed out and left you alone if you did a better job of hiding the fact that you're still in love with him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good point," Niall said before Louis could respond. "Honestly Lou, the heart eyes you make when you look at him gives you away."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I do not make heart eyes," Louis scoffed. "Heart eyes are reserved for emoji's. They're not a real thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Heart eyes, pheromones, the way the two of you interacted when bowling last night," Liam said. "It all adds up."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not to mention the fact that you let him put you in a drop," Niall added. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Really?" Liam asked, clear surprise in his voice. "Today?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Absolutely not," Louis objected. "I did not let him put me in a drop. He wouldn't leave and Niall practically forced him to help me. Yet another decision I had no say in."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>NIall shook his head. "Good try, but I disagree. I mean, you did look like you might drop but no fucking way would you have let just anyone pull you into their lap like you did with him. You practically went limp so Harry could rearrange your limbs. Would you have let Liam pull you in like that? Would you have buried your face in his neck like you did with Harry?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's just how he settled me," Louis interrupted. "I didn't scent him or anything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm pretty sure you would have though. Plus, I didn't even get to hear him give you an alpha command to drop," Niall continued over Louis. "He squeezed your neck and you were out. I was honestly looking forward to hearing his newly acquired alpha voice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Has Eric ever put you in a drop before?" Liam asked, clear intrigue in his voice. "Or at least been there? I'm sure he has, but just asking. For science."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis rolled his eyes at Liam's reasoning and said, "I don't drop very often so maybe once or twice when I was freaking out about school or work stuff."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Did he have to command you?" Liam asked. "Or did you go willingly?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't remember." Louis lied in an attempt to not make it a big deal. Louis was never a fan of going into an omega drop and he had declined many of Eric's numerous suggestions, even when it was fairly obvious that Louis should have let his omega instinct take over. There were a couple of times when he had agreed to accept Eric's alpha command to put Louis into his omega space. But Louis had never let go like he had in Harry's presence today. Just like he had with Harry when they were younger. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis breathed a sigh of relief when the buzzer to the flat rang, signaling the delivery of their food. Not only would it give him a reprieve from his friends prying but he was starving from missing the first two meals of the day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you say to Harry when you came out of your drop?" Niall asked, as he spread the food out on the coffee table. "It seemed like you had just left him in the living room when me and Liam got here. Harry looked like he was in some state of shock from maybe something you had said but he wouldn't tell us a thing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's a great conversationalist," Liam stated. "He had another fun getting to know you session while you were sleeping."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Your name was not brought up the entire time," Niall assured, through a mouth full of noodles. "That was a little disappointing."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave another eye roll. "Tragic. Can we maybe not talk about Harry anymore? Not that I want to talk about my most recent breakup but why are you lads so stuck on Harry? Eric is the main topic of the day. Like how the fuck am I going to get my stuff out of our flat? Or his flat? And where the fuck am I going to live?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis watched as Liam and Niall seemed to have a private conversation between one another. He absolutely hated when his friends did that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, I will amend my statement," Niall corrected, thankfully after swallowing his food. "There was a brief segment in our group conversation about where you were going to live. I know that Eric is the one on the lease so you're likely the person who's left without a place to live."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And?" Louis prompted when Niall didn't continue. Louis could hardly bear the thought of having to sort through their things with Eric. Or however they would work it out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Harry has an empty bedroom in his flat," Liam rushed as he stuffed his mouth with an egg roll.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, fuck no!" Louis exclaimed. "I'll go homeless before that happens."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou," Niall said calmly. "You can stay on my couch for as long as you want. But can you really afford to get a place by yourself?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, true," Niall agreed. "But flats in the city are expensive and you have to admit it's probably been nice splitting rent. I certainly miss it. I should have done what Harry did and get a two bedroom even though it was just myself when I was signing a lease so I could have the option of having a roommate or not. I kind of miss having someone around to be honest."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis sighed. He was secretly in agreement with Niall. Having one's own space was amazing. The freedom of walking around naked was nice and all. But he got lonely too easily. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How about this," Louis suggested. "Niall, I'll pay for you to break your lease and we can get a place together."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall seemed to mull the idea over for a moment. "If there's a two bedroom apartment open in this complex I'll put it into consideration. This complex is prime real estate so I'm not moving out of this building."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"There isn't one available," Liam stated. "Zayn and I looked when we were searching for a place. Two bedroom flats in this building have a waitlist."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Aww," Niall cooed. "You wanted to live in my building? You love me that much?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam gave Niall a bland look. "Like you said, this complex is prime real estate. I don't know how, or why, the owner gives such good deals on rentals. They could make so much more money."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall threw a peanut in Liam's direction. "Don't you dare jinx my low monthly rate."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway," Liam continued as he picked Niall's peanut out of his plate of food. "Harry's free room is your best bet, Lou. At least for the short term. He already offered."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course he did," Louis mumbled, wondering if this was yet another decision that was being made for him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll help you find something if you want," Liam offered as if reading Louis' mind. "But maybe give Harry a chance while we're looking?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Or use the room for storage and sleep on my couch," Niall suggested. "Whatever you want. Either way I think we should get your stuff out of your former residence as soon as possible. Your stuff is going to be a constant reminder of you for poor Eric. He's a good lad, that one."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I really hope he finds his true mate," Liam said somberly. "I know you're mad at him for what he did but he did good by you, Louis. I can't imagine any other alpha in his position making the decision to let you go like that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"With the exception of Harry," Niall said softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis noticed Liam nod in agreement but thankfully he didn't say anything. And deep down, Louis knew they were both right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Eric had texted him the day after their breakup to let him know that he had a friend that was going to move into the second bedroom that Louis and Eric had turned into an office. Louis' name would be removed off of the lease and that was that. Eric had even apologized and made sure Louis didn't feel like Eric was replacing him, stressing that his friend was an alpha. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Logically it made sense that Eric would want to have someone move in as quickly as possible since Louis' scent was no doubt lingering around the entire flat. It still made Louis feel like shit though. Sure, Eric wasn't immediately replacing him but to have someone moving in so quickly had Louis crying all over again. It felt as if Eric was perfectly fine and at ease with his decision to break up with Louis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As such, Niall and Liam were nominated to go and pick up Louis' things that Eric was quick to pack up. As Louis looked through the boxes that were now stacked in Niall's living room (bless him) Louis knew there were quite a few things that had been left behind. Liam had offered to make another trip but Louis quickly decided they weren't important enough to bother retrieving. Eric was lovely via text, but Louis sensed the alpha had no desire to see him in person. The feeling was mutual.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis hadn't heard from Harry for two days but Niall assured him that the plan for Louis to move in was still in motion. Unfortunately. If Niall weren't so fucking loud in the morning Louis would happily remain sleeping on his couch for the rest of eternity. Or at least until Louis found something else that had nothing to do with Harry's second bedroom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was sprawled out on Niall's bed Tuesday night when Louis was finally the person Harry chose to text. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, look," Louis noted, shoving his phone in Niall's face. "I guess Harry decided that I do exist. Or have you misplaced your phone and he's being forced to text me because you're not replying?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall rolled his eyes. "He was just giving you space, Lou. He was kind of a major character in your breakup story."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Both first edition and second edition," Louis grumbled. He looked over to Niall and asked, "Which edition do you think would be worth more on eBay?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, my God," Niall responded, shaking his head fondly. "Just see what he wants. And be nice."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis scoffed. "I'm always nice."</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry: Hey, Lou. Sorry for being MIA. I wanted to give you some alone time. Did Niall or Liam talk to you about my free bedroom? The mattress for the room arrived today so you can come whenever. If you want.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry: P.S. No offense to Niall's couch, but it doesn't seem like the most comfortable piece of furniture to sleep on. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shoved his phone back in Niall's face, and announced, "Harry thinks your couch is shit."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Please," Niall responded. "It's like sleeping on a cloud."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Did you know he was buying a mattress for the spare bedroom?" Louis asked. "Why would he buy a bed for someone else?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall cocked his eyebrow. "You seriously think he's going to offer his room to you and not have furniture in it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Most roommates bring their own shit," Louis huffed. "And I am perfectly capable of buying my own bed. I'm not a charity case."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou," Niall said, his voice serious. "We all know you're not some charity case. You're a grown adult with a job that covers the bills. You're also smart enough to know that you're not just some random person to Harry. He's an alpha who cares about you deeply both as Louis Tomlinson and Omega Louis."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis groaned. "Please not that again. I'm one person."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall shrugged as he put his focus back on his laptop. "He'd probably agree with me. Now text him back."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis started out a few messages only to delete them and start over again. He had no fucking idea what to say. Or text. Or both if he was going to be forced to talk to Harry in person.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis poked Niall in the side. "What am I texting him? Help me, Neil. I can't go through this alone."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall gave him a Look. "I revoke my previous statement. It's possible you're not a grown adult."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Heyyyy," Louis droned out. "I'm just sad and alone and single. It's a very trying time right now. Decision making is hard."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall sighed. "Thank him for the mattress. And see when he's available so you can move your shit out of my living room." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded and dutifully got to work on composing a new message.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Thank you, H. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Niall would like to know when you're available to move stuff. He's trying to get rid of me. :(</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Harry: Whenever you're ready.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>"Ni?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hmm?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When Harry says I can move in whenever I'm ready do you suppose he means, like, whenever I'm free to move? Or whenever I'm prepared to be living in his pumpkin spice scented flat after having just been dumped? Because I'm not ready."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall let out another sigh. "He's your friend, Lou. First and foremost. He probably means both. And, as roommates, it will give you a better opportunity to talk. You know, about everything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis flopped back on his back. "I'm so tired of talking. I just want to go to work, come home and sleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall smirked. "I guess we should get you moved in as soon as possible then. There's a new mattress and a room with a lock on it. At least, I assume it has a lock. But at least there's a door. Unlike here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded to himself. Fair point.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine," Louis concluded. "I'll go sleep on an actual bed starting tomorrow and we can move the rest of my stuff on the weekend. Good?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall gave a soft pat to Louis' head. "Sounds good. I'm just a phone call away."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With the decision made Louis wrapped up his conversation with Harry and headed to the living room to leave Niall in peace. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He flopped back on the couch and did another run down of how his life had changed so drastically in only a little over two weeks. That's when he remembered it. His heat. He was going to be living with Harry when his heat began. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck," Louis whispered to himself. He needed to figure something out. And fast. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was about to pass out from exhaustion when there was a soft knock on the wall of his new bedroom. He hadn't realized that Liam had taken some of Louis' things to his own apartment for short term storage until their group started to pile the boxes up in the room. The items brought from Liam's flat restored the things Louis thought had been left behind so for that he was grateful. But he was fucking exhausted and the boxes piled around his room weren't making him feel any better. Eric had done an amazing job of sorting out Louis' belongings and Louis still couldn't figure out how he felt about that. Especially considering how Eric had done it so quickly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can I come in?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis turned to find Harry leaning against the doorframe, clearly waiting for permission to enter. Louis nodded his consent from where he was laying on his new bed, having no intention of sitting up anytime soon. Harry had purchased the most comfortable mattress Louis had ever encountered and he already had full intentions of stealing it when Louis got his own place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry, Lou," Harry said softly, as he took a seat on the side of the bed. "I shouldn't have shown up on your porch like I did a couple weeks go. If I had known it would have such an effect on your relationship I wouldn't have come." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged. "It is what it is."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave Louis a disbelieving look, knowing full well Louis couldn't brush the topic to the side so easily.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry looked down at his lap as he continued. "It took me a few months to come to terms with the fact that I had actually presented as an alpha. By the time I was ready to face you I could see that you were doing really well." Harry quickly glanced over to Louis before continuing. "I got on your instagram and saw you with Eric. I knew I had to contact you but the more selfies and pictures you posted, the longer I put it off. I didn't want to get in the way of you and the person who was responsible for creating those beautiful crinkles by your eyes that you get when you're truly happy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry paused for a few moments, as if gathering his thoughts. "But then there was a picture about a month ago where you looked sad. If I had to guess it was probably taken when you were just waking up so you might have just been sleepy. But something about it had me on edge and that's when I decided to come and see you. I swear, my plans didn't include inserting myself back into your life like I did. I just... I don't know what happened. But I'm sorry it's turned out this way. I'm sorry you lost the person you were ready to mate with."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis internally cringed. He knew exactly what picture Harry was probably talking about. Louis had finally remembered to delete it but obviously not in time for any ex-boyfriend instagram stalkers to see. But it had, in fact, been taken after having just woken up. Thankfully Eric, the selfie obsessed alpha, had been more focused on getting the perfect lighting than noticing Louis' slightly puffy eyes as a result of Harry's appearance in his dreams. The fact that Louis couldn't figure out why Harry was invading his blissful sleep had Louis looking even more like shit when Eric snapped the picture. Louis had noticed the brief frown on Eric's face when he inspected it but neither of them said anything and Eric proceeded to post it after assuring that Louis looked beautiful. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis pulled out of his thoughts at the sound of Harry's voice and he gave a reassuring pat to Harry's thigh before saying, "It's okay, H. It obviously wasn't meant to be if Eric couldn't handle us being friends."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry furrowed his brow and Louis ignored the way his stomach flipped at referring to Harry as a friend. He was so much more than that and Louis wasn't sure what the fuck he was supposed to do. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Thank you for telling me why it took so long for you to come and find me," Louis continued. Although to be honest he couldn't decide if he was thankful or not. It was good to have some sort of explanation from Harry, but look at the result of his decision. Louis was now single and living in the spare bedroom of the person who had been the cause of Louis' breakup. If it weren't for the familiar scent of pumpkin spice radiating from Harry, Louis was fairly certain he would end up crying again. More from frustration than sadness at this point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis' mind halted at the realization of how familiar Harry's scent was. They had only spent a few hours together here and there over the past couple weeks, yet the scent settled Louis as if had been dependent on the smell for years. It suddenly had Louis questioning just how strong Harry's underlying scent had been when he was presumed to be a beta. Was it possible Harry's pheromones were stronger than Louis thought? It would explain the need for added stimms when they broke up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis mentally shook his head. He'd think about it later. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis stared up at the ceiling. He had been fairly certain that Niall's lumpy couch had been the cause of his restless nights at first. Sleep hadn't come easily the first few nights at Harry's either, despite the most comfortable mattress on earth. Louis had been positive that, once he had all of his belongings in one place, he would be settled enough to go back to his dreamless nights full of hours worth of deep sleep. He'd settle for twenty-eight minutes of deep sleep at this point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He let out a groan of frustration as he flipped onto his side.. In reality, he was fully aware that the furniture he was sleeping on had nothing to do with his lack of sleep. It was the lack of an alpha. Louis couldn't decide if it was Eric specifically or just the comfort of being in another person's presence. Either way, Louis was trying his hardest to put the blame on the furniture and forget about all alphas. Because if he thought too long his mind could end up wandering to the alpha down the hall. And he definitely could not let that happen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of course, as it usually goes, the more Louis actively tried not to think of something, the more his thoughts were drawn to the thing he wasn't supposed to be thinking of. Especially at two in the morning. Louis let out a frustrated sigh and threw the covers back. Harry had a king size bed and hopefully he was sleeping on the far side of it. Louis could simply slip in without touching and return to his room before Harry woke up. It would be like it never happened and, with any luck, the alpha pheromones would provide Louis with a natural form of sleeping pill. Harry was merely a sleep aid and nothing more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis pulled on a t-shirt before slipping out of his room and tip-toeing down the hall. It was imperative that Harry not wake up or this was going to be awkward as fuck. He definitely had no desire to explain that Harry was merely being used as a drug to help Louis sleep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis breathed a sigh of relief as Harry's door opened silently. He hadn't spent much time inspecting Harry's room but thankfully his curtains were open and the moon was bright so Louis could see well enough. He silently swore to himself when he saw the lump under the blankets was dead center in the middle of the bed. So much for Harry keeping to one side. After careful consideration, Louis determined there was still plenty of room to slip in undetected. As Louis gently pulled the blanket back enough to climb in next to Harry, he briefly wondered if Harry had shared a bed with other omegas in Louis' absence. He brushed the thought aside before he could dwell on it. The whole purpose of intruding on Harry's personal space was so Louis could sleep. Thinking about the amount of people Harry had been with would not be conducive to his goal. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry let out a cute little snuffle as Louis got comfortable, but otherwise remained still. It was a strange sensation that Louis wasn't laying next to a sandalwood smelling alpha but, as the minutes ticked by the light scent of pumpkin spice had his eyes fluttering shut as sleep finally came. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His plan to slip out without Harry finding Louis in his bed was an epic failure. Because of course it was. And Louis immediately vowed to never make sleep deprived decisions for the rest of his life. Especially at two in the morning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He didn't have to open his eyes to know that he was spooning Harry, who at some point during the night had curled up in a ball to make himself smaller to fit in Louis' arms. Because, yes, of course Louis was holding Harry tight against his chest with Harry's arm holding him in place. Honestly, how had Louis not foreseen this? And his attempt to slide his arm out from under Harry's only resulted in Harry pulling him in tighter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know why you're here but it's okay that you are," Harry croaked. "To me, at least."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis remained silent and tried to regulate his breathing in the hope that Harry would think he was still sleeping. Maybe Harry would get out of bed first and Louis could run back to his own room and never come out. That seemed like the most mature option to take. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave a gentle squeeze to Louis' hand. "I know you're awake, Lou."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I couldn't sleep," Louis admitted quietly. "I haven't been able to sleep for, like, a week. I thought maybe alpha pheromones would help. I'm sorry." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It's okay," Harry repeated. "It's a natural instinct. We don't have to read into it or anything."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis almost laughed at that. How could he </span>
  <em>
    <span>not</span>
  </em>
  <span> read into it? He had barely just broken up with the person he had decided to mate with and now found himself curled around the man Louis had once thought he would be spending the rest of his life with. And to think Louis had been upset with Eric for how quickly he had someone else moving in. Louis was already sleeping in Harry's bed for fuck's sake. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I should start unpacking," Louis said, pulling his arm back from where it was still wrapped around Harry's body. Harry let go easily and Louis scooted off of the bed. He needed space. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay," Harry nodded, thankfully not turning to look at Louis. "I'm going to make some breakfast in a few minutes. I could wake you up when it's ready."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" Louis squaked, offended that Harry assumed Louis would be climbing into his own bed. Which is exactly what he planned to do but Harry didn't need to know that. "I’m not going back to bed. I said I'm unpacking." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry rolled over so they could properly look at each other, resulting in Louis nearly going weak in the knees. The alpha was fucking beautiful. He always was, of course. But, there was something about the morning light and serene look on Harry's face. His features were somehow softer causing him to look younger than he was. Louis was looking at the Harry that he had woken up to countless times so many years ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry propped himself up with his elbow causing the blankets to slip farther down Harry's torso. Technically Louis knew that Harry was shirtless, but seeing it was a whole other level. As Louis remained in place his attention finally caught on to Harry's swallow tattoos. He had said that he would explain what they meant at a later time and, now that Louis saw them in full, he concluded this was that time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis felt Harry's watchful eyes as he climbed back onto the bed, laying down on top of the covers to ensure to maintain a safe distance from Harry's enticing warmth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why are they different?" Louis asked, making no indication that he was talking about Harry's tattoos.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry furrowed his brow and Louis poked him in the chest. "The swallows. Why are they different? Why did you get them tattooed?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry's eyes lit up in understanding and he smiled softly. "I guess, I don't know, it was kind of a spur of the moment decision."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis cocked an eyebrow. "Those are incredibly intricate tattoos to be spur of the moment, H. Who was your tattoo artist? Did they not know that birds don't have eyebrows? Because it looks like yours have eyebrows."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry laughed softly. "I got them a few weeks after I presented. I guess I just wanted to keep a part of you with me. It's stupid, I know. But it made sense at the time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis reached out and brushed his index finger over the larger swallow, tracing over the eyebrows that only Harry Styles would think to add on to a tattoo of a bird. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Am I the smaller one then?" Louis asked. "You have straighter eyebrows than what I have."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry nodded. "Yes, the smaller one represents you. At the time I was thinking that maybe it could symbolize the two of us returning to each other. Obviously that didn't work out as planned."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged. "You're here now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry placed his hand over where Louis was still tracing the tattoos. "That's true. But not exactly in the capacity that I had hoped. This is not the scenario I imagined."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis dropped his eyes. He couldn't quite look at Harry when asking, "What did you imagine?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you imagine?" Louis repeated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, I was still coming to terms with finally presenting. What I imagined wasn't realistic."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Just tell me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry brushed his thumb over Louis' hand. "I imagined calling and telling you the news. We would make a time and place to meet and you would be free to decide if you wanted to be with me or not. Obviously in my imagination you would have chosen me. That was before I got on your instagram, of course. I was clearly an idiot to think that you would be single. You're Louis Tomlinson, for fuck's sake, you probably had alphas clamoring for your attention."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I didn't want any attention from other alphas," Louis admitted, swiftly pulling his hand out from under Harry's. "I already had the one I wanted."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry furrowed his brows. "You mean Eric?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I..." Louis stuttered. That's not who Louis was referring to. But Harry hadn't been an alpha. Not really. And yet, after so many years of presuming Harry was beta, Louis was looking at Harry as if he had always been an alpha. The more he thought about it the only thing that had been reminding Louis that Harry wasn't an alpha when they were together was Harry himself. Everyone else in his life could fuck off when they said Louis had needed an alpha. He already had his. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I have to go unpack," Louis announced, rolling over and off of the bed. Questioning Harry's tattoos had been a mistake. So had moving in with him. Because now he was stuck in yet another awkward position. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, wait," Harry called after him. Louis ignored him and headed back to his own bed to think. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Once he was under the covers he grabbed his phone to text Niall.. His friend had assisted in Louis making a lot of horrible decisions the past couple of weeks but why not add to the pile? </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Ni, I don't think I can live here. Help me. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: Why? What happened?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Nothing. Kind of. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Nial: ...</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: I was tired of not being able to fall asleep so I crawled into Harry's bed last night. He wasn't supposed to know. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: You slept together??? I knew it!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: No! Nothing physical. He was sleeping when I got there. I just needed some alpha pheromones. I haven't had such a good night's sleep in months. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: So?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: Do you suppose it's possible for Harry to have been my alpha without him being an alpha?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Niall: I knew it!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Louis: omg.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis dropped his phone, startled as a call came through. He picked it up, finding Niall's name on the caller ID. Louis was tempted to not answer, unsure if he wanted to hear what Niall was going to say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What?" Louis asked, having decided to take the call.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good morning to you too," Niall replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Whatever," Louis grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway," Niall continued. "Me and Liam were talking last night and we decided that there is a secondary gender no one talks about. I'm going to submit it to some official source. I'm not sure which one yet, but I have to get it out there for other people who might be confused or unsure what their gender is. Are you ready for it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do I have a choice?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No. Because we've figured out that Harry is a Balta. Well, he seems to have graduated into being a full alpha. But he was definitely a Balta when you were with him."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What the fuck are you on about?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, think about it!" Niall said excitedly. "He didn't present as an alpha but we've already discussed the alpha characteristics he had. The scenting, and you needing more stimms after you broke up. He was an alpha stuck in the body of what people presumed to be a beta. He was a Balta. A beta/alpha combination."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You come up with the stupidest shit, Ni," Louis stated. Though he couldn't dismiss what Niall was actually saying.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hear me out," Niall continued. "You've always had it bad for Harry. I'm sorry, mate. Now that Eric broke up with you I can say it. Eric's a good lad, one of the best alphas out there. And I truly believe you would have been happy together. But he's not your alpha, Lou. What if Harry always has been? If he was a Balta then it's possible that your omega accepted him as your alpha without you knowing. It explains why you put off mating so long too. Because deep down you knew Eric wasn't your true mate."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis remained silent. A Balta was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard of. But, on the other hand, it could explain a lot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"For argument's sake, let's say you're right," Louis finally said. "What do I do now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Well you took the first step by crawling into bed with him last night. So good job on that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I hate you," Louis mumbled. "I really do."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall scoffed. "You love me and you know it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Say what you must if it makes you sleep better at night."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall let out a cackle before continuing. "I sleep well enough. Without crawling into other people's beds, might I add."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The hate is piling up," Louis stated, a smile on his face. Niall was the best at cheering him up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Anyway," Niall continued. "I have a plan. And it's a good one."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not sure I want to know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Good," Niall said. "Because I'm not telling you what it is. If you get off track with the plan I came up with, I'll let you know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis rolled his eyes. "Once again, you're not making sense."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That's okay," Niall responded. "I've already placed a bet with Liam that you're going to do what I think you're going to do. So don't worry about it. Sorry, I shouldn't have told you I had a plan. Scratch that from the conversation. It's business as usually with the Balta named Harry."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Right," Louis said, shaking his head fondly. "I'm having a crisis and you're telling me to forget you said anything about trying to help me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"How about I help you unpack?" Niall suggested. "I'm not doing anything today."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Really?" Louis asked, taken aback by Niall's offer. Although there was probably some sort of ulterior motive that Louis should consider. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"The sooner you're unpacked, the sooner you'll feel more at home," Niall explained. "Friends help friends unpack. Unless you're the friend in which case that statement doesn't apply."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Excuse you," Louis objected. "I've helped you move before."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But never unpack," Niall pointed out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a knock on Louis' door, followed by Harry's voice. "Lou, I made breakfast if you want. If you haven't fallen back asleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm unpacking, H! Your comfortable mattress is going to waste because I'm so busy."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry burst out in laughter and Louis smiled at the fact that he could still make Harry laugh with the simplest things.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Then come get some food," Harry instructed. "You'll need the energy for all of your hard work."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine," Louis conceded. "Be there in a sec."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He made you breakfast?" Niall asked from the other side of the phone. "That's thoughtful. Especially after sleeping together. Tell me if he does the dishes too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll see you later, Ni," Louis concluded. "Come over whenever you want. I'll let Harry know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A couple hours, probably. Talk to you later.."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis didn't even have time to respond before the line disconnected.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall was right in regards to feeling more at home after unpacking. Niall, Louis, and Harry had taken a break to shop for decorations as well, making his bedroom even more comfortable. It wasn't just that though. He had Harry. Louis refused to admit to himself that he felt more at home with Harry than he had with Eric. It felt wrong to think that. But after just a few days Louis was starting to feel as if they had never broken up. They had obviously never lived together but just sharing each other's space was so familiar and comforting that it felt like nothing had changed between them, despite the fact that everything had. It was confusing and was driving Louis insane not knowing how to react to the situation. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He also didn't know how to deal with the fact that his heat was only a few days away. Louis had managed to push the thoughts of how he was supposed to be mating aside. But not having an alpha lined up to help him was making him nervous. After all, he hadn't gone through a heat alone since he was eighteen. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was getting comfortable on the couch, determined to find a trustworthy heat service when Harry walked in the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey," Harry greeted. "Good day?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah," Louis nodded, distracted by thinking of the best keywords to google for results of what he was looking for. The more google could help to find a trustworthy company, the better.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's wrong?" Harry asked, sounding worried as he took a seat next to Louis. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nothing," Louis said, turning to Harry to find him with furrowed brows and a small from. "What makes you think something's wrong? Or did you just have a bad day?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shook his head. "You smell different. Your scent is a lot stronger than usual."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was Louis' turn to frown. He was still two days away from his scheduled heat but it suddenly dawned on him that he might be going into preheat. Fuck. Was that why his alpha coworkers shied away from him throughout the day? Louis should have remembered to put on some scent neutralizer to dim the smell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis opted to feign ignorance and simply shrugged. "Nothing is wrong, H. No need to furrow your brow like that. What's for dinner?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis turned his attention back to his laptop and silently groaned when he remembered he had been searching for a heat service. He snapped his laptop shut but it was too late. It wouldn't take more than a quick glance to see what Louis had googled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, shit," Harry mumbled. "Your heat is coming up in a couple days."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"That it is," Louis said, trying his best to keep his tone upbeat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, please tell me you weren't googling a heat service."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shrugged and pasted on a smile. "I wasn't googling a heat service."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It looked like you were," Harry said, looking between Louis and his closed laptop. "And there's no hiding that you're going into heat. Beta or not, I could always tell."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall's claim that Harry was a Balta was starting to seem like an actual thing and Harry being here when Louis was trying to figure out what to do wasn't helping. Maybe it was just a natural reaction, but Harry's pumpkin spice scent seemed to be getting stronger as well. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I need to figure this out, H," Louis finally said. "I've worked it out before. Don't worry about it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave a single nod, his frown back in place as he stood up. "Please be careful, Lou. I'll always be here if you want help." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Louis knew what was happening, Harry leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek before whispering in his ear. "And I have a knot now."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry was out of the room before Louis could even move. His cheek was tingling from where Harry had kissed him and his words echoed in his mind. Harry had a knot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck," Louis whispered to himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The annoying thing about Louis' heats is he had an innate desire to be cuddled. In fact, he preferred being cuddled over nesting which was particularly out of the ordinary for omegas. After sharing a couple of heats with Eric, the alpha had started to give Louis articles of clothing to nest with. Louis gratefully accepted them since he hadn't been comfortable asking Eric to spend his free time cuddled up together. Nesting was a good backup so it had worked well enough until he and Eric had become exclusive. Then he got all the cuddles he needed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time around, Louis had snuck a couple of Harry's jumpers out of his room to make a tiny nest with. But three jumpers could only go so far. They were enough to calm his inner omega, but not enough for him to sleep. Either that or he was nervous about calling one of Manchester's finest heat services in the morning. Nerves seemed like a valid excuse to not be able to sleep. Ish.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis had just flipped onto his other side, pulling one of Harry's jumpers into his arms when there was a soft knock on the door. Louis gave no response but he heard the door creak open anyway. Louis watched in silence as Harry slowly made his way through the dark room to stand next to the bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Scoot over, love," Harry whispered. "I'm sleeping here tonight. No arguments. I know you can't sleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis opened his mouth to argue but clamped it shut. Harry remembered Louis' preheat cuddling routine and was here to help, probably knowing that Louis wasn't going to make an attempt to climb into Harry's bed for a second time anytime soon. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Scooch," Harry instructed for a second time when Louis didn't move.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis did as instructed and moved over to make room for Harry. He considered turning onto his other side in an attempt to make things less awkward by not having to face each other. But the thought of potentially being scented by Alpha Harry for the first time stopped him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shirt off, please," Louis said instead, nearly slapping himself after blurting out the words. His inner omega was such a fucking traitor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry let out a soft chuckle as he pulled his shirt over his head. Neither of them said anything as Harry crawled under the covers, sliding one arm under Louis for a more secure hold as he pulled him flush against Harry's body. Louis let out an involuntary whine as Harry gave a lingering kiss on his forehead before Louis tucked his head against Harry's chest. Louis cringed at his verbal reaction, knowing Harry was going to think Louis was in need of more. Which, technically being scented would do the job but Harry wasn't here for that. Only cuddles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"H?" Louis asked, in an attempt to distract Harry from inquiring what Louis' needy whine was for. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yeah?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why do you think I like cuddles more than nesting before my heats?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry was silent for a moment as he ran his hand up and down Louis' back. The touch alone helped to release tension in his muscles that Louis hadn't even realized was there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know, Lou," Harry finally said. "If I had to guess maybe it's because I wouldn't leave you alone before your heats. I didn't give you time to nest." Harry paused, placing another kiss on the top of Louis' head. "I'm sorry. I should have let you give into an omega instinct like that. Nesting is important."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave a half shrug. "I never thought to do it. I had you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You did," Harry said, tightening his hold around Louis. "And you do. Whenever you need it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room fell into silence, Harry's words echoing in Louis' mind. Louis had no doubt that Harry meant them. But Louis also needed to remember their past. Harry had broken Louis' heart for fuck's sake. And once again, Louis questioned why he was allowing Harry to jump back into his life so quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis internally sighed. He knew why. And it seemed Harry knew it too. Louis knew that the alpha wouldn't have let himself into Louis' room for pre-heat cuddles without Louis explicitly asking, unless Harry believed that Louis was his omega. Other alphas might barge in, but Harry wouldn't. Despite their history, Harry would not intrude on an omega in such a vulnerable state without solid reasoning.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nuzzled into Harry's bare chest before pulling back slightly. Harry instinctively relaxed his hold around Louis to give him the room needed to reposition himself. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Will you scent me?" Louis asked timidly, not knowing what Harry's reaction would be. They were only supposed to be roommates after all, right? That was their official relationship status at the moment and Harry had already crossed a line by showing up for preheat cuddles. How many lines were there to cross to go from roommate status to scenting? Just the one line? Or were there more? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Are you sure, Lou?" Harry asked softly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded, unsure if Harry could even see the action in the dark room. "Scent me to sleep or something. I can't turn my mind off. It will help."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis internally congratulated himself on his response. It was a solid statement that could go both ways. Harry could assume that Louis truly wanted to be scented or that Louis was just asking for a favor to help him fall asleep faster. Although, now that he thought of it that way, Louis wasn't even sure which one it was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sleep, baby," Harry whispered as he began to nose his way along Louis' neck. "I'll be here in the morning."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded, resulting in giving Harry better access to his neck. The scent of pumpkin spice engulfing Louis was so much stronger than it used to be and Louis' body reacted accordingly. He let out another whine as he felt a bit of slick escape. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I've got you, Lou," Harry mumbled as he hugged Louis tight. "Now sleep."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It wasn't an alpha command but it worked. Louis felt Harry loosen his hold to allow Louis to resume using Harry's chest as a pillow just in time for his eyes to flutter shut as sleep finally came. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis was about to crawl into Harry's bed and start building a nest if his roommate didn't get home soon. The only reason Louis had managed to get through the workday is because he knew there was no one available to cuddle with. But now that he was home his skin was practically crawling with lack of physical contact. The last time it had been this bad was his first heat away from Harry. The alpha that Louis had been paired up with showed up in time for Louis to drop into heat but that was it. Louis hadn't even had anything to nest with and to be honest he was surprised that he had managed to restrain himself from taking an unnecessary amount of stimms considering, at the time, it seemed quite necessary. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis could only assume his current predicament was due to having been cuddled the entire night. Harry had even skipped his morning jog to make sure he was there when Louis woke up, just as he had said. But now Harry was late in getting home and Louis was left shivering as he curled up into a tighter ball on the couch. The bed would be more comfortable but the couch was in plain view when Harry walked in the door. If he ever did, that is.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He had chickened out on calling the heat service Louis had found, not wanting to spend his heat with an unknown alpha with Harry in the next room. But at this point he was starting to wonder if Harry was perhaps staying away from the flat so he didn't have to be witness to an unknown alpha being around to help Louis. He really should have asked Harry about helping with his heat before they parted ways this morning. King of bad decisions, Louis was. That and being unsure how exactly to ask Harry for his help. The alpha had offered, of course. But it still seemed a bit awkward after only a couple weeks. And Louis had no doubt that, if Harry helped Louis through his heat, that would be it. The past would still be there, but Louis wouldn't be able to deny Harry any longer. Louis loved him too much and his inner omega seemed quite clear on the fact that Harry was his alpha. Even when he had been a beta. Or even a Balta. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis whimpered when he heard the door being unlocked. Fucking finally. Hopefully Harry was up to the task of giving Louis his full attention. Louis frowned at that thought. Harry had offered to help with his heat, but there was no commitment to give up his time to help with Louis' annoying preheat cuddling needs. Maybe he should have gone to Niall's instead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm so sorry, Lou!" Harry called as soon as the door was open. Even the sound of Harry's voice had Louis releasing a needy whine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh my, God," Harry said as he approached Louis. "Louis, why didn't you call or text? You could have gone into my room."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It was too far away," Louis explained. "I'm comfortable here."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like hell you are," Harry replied, pulling Louis' balled up limbs apart before lifting him up into his arms. Louis wrapped his legs around Harry's waist and dug his face into his neck as he was carried into Harry's bedroom. Harry sat Louis on the edge of the bed and ran his hands up and down Louis thigh, asking, "You didn't call a heat service did you? I'm here for you, love, but I don't know if I can handle taking care of you now and then having another alpha take you away for days."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis looked into Harry's eyes and found a sense of desperation flitting across his features. Louis took one of Harry's hands and shook his head. "No. I couldn't."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry smiled softly, reaching up and cupping Louis' face. "Thank you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis wasn't sure what to say in response so he simply nodded. Louis felt a sense of relief in Harry's pheromones, once again reminding Louis that Harry was an alpha. His pumpkin spice scent had always been there, but Louis couldn't recall being able to pick out specific emotions in the past. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Let's get that shirt off of you, yeah?" Harry continued. "You need some tight cuddles."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded once more and pulled his shirt over his head, Harry following suit. He paused in consideration of whether he should take his pants off as well or wait until they were more settled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Joggers off, Lou," Harry said, reading Louis' thoughts. "The more skin contact the better remember?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis gave a crooked smile. He did remember actually. The first time Harry had been allowed to help Louis with his heat, their clothes had quickly come off and Louis had relaxed in Harry's arms at a surprisingly fast rate. Thinking back, it had Louis wondering if Harry was a Balta at the age of sixteen to be able to cause such a drastic shift in Louis' omega senses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"When did you know that you would present as an alpha, H?" Louis asked as he climbed under the covers. "Or, like, when did you start believing that one day you would present as one?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry remained silent as the pair got comfortable on the bed. Louis was about to repeat his question when Harry finally replied, "The first heat we spent together."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck, H?” Louis exclaimed, throwing the covers off of him and making to stand up. He wasn’t cuddling with an idiot Beta/Alpha/Balta who kept this information from him. Would Harry have even said anything if Louis' hadn't asked? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, where are you going?" Harry asked as Louis headed for the door. He'd text Niall for cuddles. That would work well enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Niall's," Louis replied, throwing a Look over his shoulder. "He gives good cuddles."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Omega, stop!"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis froze. Harry's alpha voice rang in his ears as the word omega ran on a loop in his mind. As his head cleared enough to move, he slowly turned around to find Harry standing by the bed with wide eyes and a hand clamped over his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you just say?" Louis whispered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry seemed to be in his own state of shock as he remained still, his hand remaining in place.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What did you just call me?" Louis prompted, voice still a whisper. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry dropped his hand, his shoulders slumping as if in defeat. "I didn't mean for it to come out like that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis cocked his head to the side in question and did his best to ignore how Harry's eyes zoomed into the side of Louis' exposed neck as Harry moved to stand in front of him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Lou, you've been my omega since the moment I met you," Harry continued. "It didn't matter that we weren't compatible as an alpha and omega couple. It's always been you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But why..."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know why," Harry cut in, a pained expression on his face. "I was young and stupid. I was too focused on what I thought you needed, not what we already had. And then you were gone and I realized my mistake. But it's only ever been you, Louis. That's never changed. And it never will."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis could feel the tears threatening to fall. Since his return into Louis' life, Harry had given him several reasons for why he had broken up with him. But this was it. This was the reason. And when it came down to it, they were both idiots. If Louis hadn't jumped into trying to find someone to take Harry's place so quickly it's quite possible Louis would have realized what had happened. In his own way, Louis was just as at fault as Harry for their mutual broken hearts. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis fell forward into Harry's naked chest and Harry wrapped his arms tight around his shoulders. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Alpha," Louis mumbled into Harry's chest. "My alpha."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry ducked down and gave a lingering kiss on the side of Louis' neck before confirming, "Yes, omega."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry kept a tight hold around Louis' shoulders as he walked backwards, Louis blindly following him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Can I give you your preheat cuddles now?" Harry asked as he peeled Louis off of his body enough to direct him back into bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded, a small smile on his face. "You give the best cuddles in the world, H. And you smell extra good now, too."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry chuckled as he gathered Louis in his arms and intertwined their legs. Louis let out a relieved sigh into Harry's chest. He hadn't felt this secure in someone's arms in years. Louis had grown up with Harry cuddling him before his heat and no one could ever replace that feeling. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis hadn't meant to fall asleep during his cuddling session and when he woke he was no longer being held in Harry's arms. Instead, he found himself attached to Harry's back with both arms wrapped around him. Louis' right arm was probably asleep from having Harry's weight on it for some unknown length of time, but it didn't matter. Harry's soft snores made Louis smile and a feeling of contentment washed over him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry shifted, making himself smaller in his arms and holding Louis' arm tight against him to keep him in place. Louis gave a soft kiss to Harry's shoulder before pulling his right arm out from underneath Harry. As much as Louis liked hugging him like this, he could probably do with having blood circulate through his limb more freely. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Louis readjusted himself he frowned at a familiar sense of soreness. Not in a bad way, exactly. But it did have him suddenly wide awake trying to figure out if, or more likely, when he had gone into heat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis shook Harry gently in an attempt to wake him. "Hazza. H. Harry. Wake up."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The swiftness of Harry going from sleep to being fully attentive caught Louis off guard and he quickly pulled away from Harry's body to allow room for the alpha to flip over and face him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What do you need, baby?" Harry asked, scanning Louis' face. "I'm here, love. Do you need my knot? Your alpha is here. "</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis blinked in surprise. Because what the fuck? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Am I supposed to be in heat?" Louis asked over a yawn. "What happened, H? We were just cuddling."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry furrowed his brow before leaning in and giving Louis a lingering kiss on the lips. It was the first time they had kissed since Harry's return. Or was it?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I could ask you the same thing, love. What happened?" Harry inquired, brows still furrowed. "I fell asleep cuddling with you and the next thing I knew is you were in a daze begging for my knot. Obviously I knew you were going into heat by your cuddles and scent but one minute you were there and the next minute you were out." Harry brushed Louis' fringe across his forehead and asked, "Is that a new normal? We always had prep time before. What if you weren't with me? What if you were still at work or something?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis slowly shook his head, not quite able to grasp what had happened. Because Harry was right. What if he hadn't been cuddled up in his alpha's arms when he fell into heat? It was a scary thought. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry leaned in for another kiss. "I kind of wanted to knot you before your heat started, too. Since I've obviously never been able to do that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Disappointment flooded over him. Louis could certainly feel that he had been knotted while in heat, but he didn't remember it. It certainly wasn't unusual for Louis to surrender himself to an alpha that he knew he could trust during his heat but bloody hell. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Knot me now, H," Louis instructed, or more like begged. "Please."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry gave a soft smile, but, to Louis' disappointment shook his head. "You already know the answer to that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis scowled as Harry shuffled forward to pull Louis into his arms. Even without a knot Harry would never fuck him immediately after coming out of heat. No matter how much Louis assured Harry he was prepped and ready he wouldn't, knowing that Louis was already sore from two of three days of constant sex. But it was a good sore. The best kind of sore that Harry apparently still didn't give in to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry I wasn't there for our first time," Louis mumbled into Harry's chest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry chuckled low in his throat. "It wasn't our first time."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis jabbed Harry in the side and huffed. "You know what I mean. With a knot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry kissed the top of Louis' head. "I know, love. I wish you were too, to be honest. It was my first time, you know."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis pushed out of Harry's arms again to look him in the face. "It was your... You didn't... What?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry simply shrugged. "There wasn't anyone else I wanted to knot." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis could only stare in shock. Harry had decided to finally present as alpha and he had never knotted an omega until Louis' unexpected heat. It's not like it was Louis' fault that he dropped into heat earlier than expected but fuck. Louis should have been there with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Please, H," Louis practically begged. "Please knot me. I'm prepped and ready. I'm an omega for fuck's sake. My body is ready for a knot. Especially yours."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Get back in my arms, you lovely man," Harry instructed, giving Louis no time to object before he was clasped in Harry's arms and held tight. "We have plenty of time and I don't want just one round for the sake of popping a knot."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fine," Louis relented, in silent agreement with Harry’s reasoning. Louis wouldn't be up for more than one round in his current state and he wanted everything with Harry. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hey, Lou," Harry asked after laying in a comfortable silence for several minutes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hmm?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Who's Balta? Why did you call me Balta when you were in heat."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis burst out in laughter, though didn't move from where he was snuggled in Harry's arms. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Niall came up with it," Louis explained into Harry's chest. "He said you were an alpha in a beta's body. Combining the two he decided you were a Balta. Ignore him. And me when I called you that."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry giggled before saying, "It kind of makes sense though. I mean, I have no explanation for it. The doctors are clueless. I say we go for it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You can conference with Niall about submitting it to some official source, or whatever. Can we sleep now?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Yes," Harry agreed. "And then I'll make you a meal with lots of protein to get your energy back."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Of course you will," Louis said over a yawn. "Because you're my alpha and you love me."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I do," Harry whispered as Louis closed his eyes and drifted off into his post-heat nap.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>----</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I knew it! I fucking knew it!" Niall yelled as he walked into the kitchen to find Louis pushed up against the wall as Harry attacked him with kisses. "Harry ignored all of my texts because he was with you during your heat! Did the two of you bond? Please say you bonded. That was penciled in on my calendar."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You don't have a calendar," Louis gasped as Harry went to work on what would surely be a pretty lovebite. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Holy shit. Did you tell Liam?" Niall asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Wait a second," Louis said, pushing Harry off of him. He gave Harry an apologetic look when the alpha gave a low growl in his throat. "How the fuck did you get in here?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall shrugged. "I had a copy of the key from when we moved in your things. I knocked but you were obviously too busy to hear me. So here I am."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis swung around to face Harry. "Honestly, H. Couldn't you have taken at least a couple months to become Niall's new best friend. Or second best friend since you're not taking my spot as the best. Either way, you shouldn't allow him to weasel his way into your life like this."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not to be Captain Obvious," Niall stated. "But I'm not the only one who moved fast. Honestly mate, have you looked in the mirror? I've never seen so many love bites on one person's neck in my life. There's no bond mark there but, from the looks of it, I'm surprised that the two of you didn't accidentally bond."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"It wasn't easy," Harry mumbled as he pulled Louis back into his chest and gave a small peck to the side of Louis' neck. "It really wasn't."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Clearly," Niall said, waving his hand around in a nonsensical pattern in the direction of Louis' neck. "I hope you've unpacked your turtlenecks for when you go out on Monday."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis flipped him off which, for whatever reason, caused Niall to burst out into laughter. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why are people here?" Louis asked as there was a knock on the door, likely being Liam. "I'm tired from my heat. Go away."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Niall snorted. "Nice try. You take a post-heat nap and you have more energy than usual."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis jabbed Harry in the side. "Exactly."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Knotting you is top priority when we're alone later," Harry whispered in Louis' ear as he squeezed him around the waist. "I promise it will be worth it."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis nodded, appeased by Harry's promise. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The knock on the door sounded again and Louis made a point to thank Liam for his courtesy of not barging in, unlike Niall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I don't know why he insists on knocking until someone answers," Niall stated, as he headed towards the door. "We're all friends here. He should just let himself in."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh my God," Louis mumbled as Niall exited the room. "Why am I friends with him?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"He's a good lad," Harry said, releasing Louis so they could formally greet Liam. "I'm glad you found him, love." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Shit, what happened to your neck, Lou?" Liam said by way of greeting as he gave Harry a knowing grin. Louis elected to ignore the question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Harry took the three boxes of pizza Liam was carrying and led the way into the living room. It looked like any plans that were made behind Louis’ back consisted of staying at home, for which Louis was grateful. It meant he could be close to his alpha while spending quality time with his best mates. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So," Niall started as he sat down on a floor pillow. "Let the meeting commence."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Meeting?" Louis asked. No fucking way was he participating in a meeting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Celebration," Liam stated, handing out the paper plates from the plastic bag he had been carrying. Prepared, as always.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Which one?" Louis asked suspiciously, directing the question to Harry. “Celebration or meeting?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Neither," Harry said with a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Why the fuck are you all being so cryptic?" Louis asked, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three other men in the room looked at each other with varying expressions. Niall being the one to explain. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Okay, so it's none of the above," Niall said with a shrug. "I’m certainly not going to endure the wrath of Louis for showing up unannounced. Well I did, but that’s beside the point. Anyway. Liam had a pizza coupon, I was in the area and Harry is a good lad who agreed to let us crash at your place while we ate. It seemed like a good excuse to check on the status of the new roommates. Who apparently aren’t just roommates any more."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis scowled. "You could have just said you were being nosy instead of making me think I wasn't going to be able to spend the day alone with my alpha."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liam looked around the room, not yet having been fully briefed that Louis and Harry were officially official. At least as official as can be without having mated yet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll admit," Liam finally said, quickly putting the pieces together. "These past three weeks have been a whirlwind. I can't even imagine what it's been like for you, Louis. But I can see that you're happier than I've ever seen you. And it's not because you just came out of your heat. You found your true mate and I'm so happy for you."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Louis ducked his head in an attempt to hide his blush. Liam was definitely right. It had been a whirlwind of emotions with all of the unexpected changes. But there was no doubt in his mind that he was where he should be. Surrounded by his best mates while cuddled next to the alpha that his inner omega knew was meant to be his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was still a lot to work out but, with Harry by his side, this time they would get there together. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed it! I gladly welcome and appreciate kudos and nice comments!</p><p>Should you feel so inclined, I would love you lots if you reblog my <a href="https://2tiedships2.tumblr.com/post/645261695084855296/too-young-to-know-35k-by-2tiedships2-louis%22">fic post</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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